The Delano Chronicles
by Dejaret
Summary: After going to take the Test with him, Raistlin's childhood friend disappeared. The Conclave claimed he was dead, but Delano returned to Solace for the five year reunion, changed and powerful, a dark shell of his former self.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: The characters, lore and storylines of Dragonlance are not owned by me. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. New characters and storylines introduced in this retelling, however, are mine and may not be claimed by anyone else.**

**Welcome to the "Delano Chronicles." If all goes well and my interest is kept throughout, I plan on retelling all three of the original "Dragonlance Chronicles" by Weis and Hickman, one of my favorite stories. **

**That being said, let us begin. **

* * *

><p>The world shifted into place once the teleportation spell was finished. Delano Baeron wobbled a little as his knees threatened to give way and leaned on his staff to avoid falling flat on his face.<p>

"That was far more taxing than I expected," he said, breathing heavily. Taking in his surroundings while recovering, he began to smile. Nice bit of work, he thought. He stood in the middle of a rarely used path that crossed the main road into Solace on its way to the ridge overlooking the tree town. Even after all he'd been through, his brain still harbored many fond memories of this path. It was a path only he and Raistlin used with any regularity. They were best friends growing up, and spent many a day walking slowly along the path talking over many topics and practicing spells they'd learned.

"Well," he said to the trees, "did you miss me?" He looked at the forest around him and noticed something he never expected to see that day. A deer stood perfectly still about ten feet off the path in the trees staring at him. It looked to be a young buck with 8-point antlers. "Hello young one," Delano said to the deer. "Having a good day? It's alright, I won't hurt you." He slowly moved his hand to a pack hidden in his robes to look for something he could use to entice the deer to come closer. His fingers touched on something in his pack and he was a little surprised. "What am I doing with corn kernels?" He pulled them out and looked down at his hand. He shrugged and held out his hand, palm up and open offering the kernels to the deer. "I won't bite." The deer turned a little, blinked, and took a hesitant step towards Delano. "You're lucky Caramon isn't here. All he would see looking at you is food," he said as he smiled. He threw the kernels on the ground at the edge of the path eight feet or so in front of the deer. "Free of charge."

He looked down the path towards the main road and the ridge beyond it. He sighed. You know, I don't have to make the reunion, he told himself. I could always just go somewhere else. Delano decided to go to his tree, the one he himself planted on the ridge as a kid, and think it over. He pulled his hood over his head, re-gripped his staff and started walking towards the ridge. After a hundred feet, he looked back and saw the deer standing in the trees with its head poking out looking at him. Delano stopped walking and watched the deer to see what was going to happen. A moment later, the deer bent its head down and began eating the corn kernels. Delano watched the deer eat for a moment, then resumed his walk.

Reaching his tree, he sat down and leaned against the trunk like he had years ago. How was he supposed to explain, well, everything to his parents? He left five years ago with such high hopes, leaving with Raistlin and Caramon Majere to go take the Test at the Tower of Wayreth. Other than the students and teachers at the school (and even they didn't fully understand), Raistlin was the one person that knew how important the Test was to Delano, since he was just as eager. They both desired power – immense power – but Raistlin wanted it for different reasons than Delano. Raistlin had always been sort of sickly, weak and requiring help, so he was angry at the world and planned on showing everyone that _he_ was the strong one. Delano wanted, no, needed the ecstasy of feeling the power flow through him and, to a lesser extent, thought it would just flat out be cool. Now that he thought about it, he really wanted to talk to Raistlin and see how his old friend was doing. Delano was close to all of the companions, but with Raistlin, there was a bond that he shared with no one else. He sighed again as he pulled out his pipe, packed it with his favorite herb, lit it, and placed it between his teeth. He had no idea what the Conclave was saying about him. He supposed they considered him dead, seeing as how he left their presence in a rather unorthodox way. Would Raistlin even _want_ to talk to him now?

"What have you become, Delano?" he asked the afternoon air.

* * *

><p>Delano had asked himself that question thousands of times over the past five years, but he never thought anyone else ever heard. Little did he know, that this time, in the bardining room of the Inn of the Last Home, an old man in gray robes sitting in a chair near the fireplace heard him.

The old man took a drink of ale and set his half empty mug on the armrest of the chair. He folded his hands together in the sleeves of his robes and bowed his head, sighing. "I'm sorry my child. I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>Flint Fireforge walked up the main road into Solace like he had countless times before. He got to a point where he could look down into the valley at Solace and sat down on a boulder sitting next to the road. He pulled out a small silver dagger and a block of wood and began carving, taking in the scene.<p>

"What was I thinking? Dumbest idea Tanis ever had this confounded quest. Never shoulda left." Still absentmindedly carving the block of wood, he caught the scent of dinners starting to cook on the wind, mixed with the myriad of scents Solace produced on a fine autumn afternoon. "And I'm never leaving again, you here me?" he roared. "After one hundred and forty-eight years, I shoulda learned to be happy where I was, shoulda _known_ not to leave again."

"A hundred more years on Krynn _still_ wouldn't teach you, dwarf," came a voice from an advancing figure on the road.

Flint rose from the boulder, placing his dagger and block of wood in a pouch and grabbing his battle axe off his back in one motion. He peered questionably down the road to see who spoke. "Tanis . . . ?"

"Who else old friend?" the half-elf smiled as he drew near the old dwarf.

Flint replaced his axe and regarded Tanis for a moment. "You were ugly enough without the beard," he scowled.

"Haven't changed a bit, have you?" Tanis laughed. "I've been in lands that don't take kindly to those of elven blood. The only gift my father ever gave me," he said in a more serious tone.

"Bah, you live, don't you?"

Tanis looked at him for a second, then produced a small smile. "Fine. The _second_ gift."

"One of these days," began Flint before the half-elf motioned for silence. The dwarf instinctively reached for the battle axe on his back.

The slowly setting sun was beginning to produce shadows dark enough for Tanis's elvish night vision to pick up the heat outline of a small humanoid creature in the trees. "Who goes there?"

Suddenly, a low whining sound started and began to creep higher and higher until it reached an ear-splitting pitch.

* * *

><p>Delano jerked out of his self-imposed prison of thought at a sound he hadn't heard in over five years. The higher the pitch of the sound, the surer he was of what it was. He looked over to the main road and saw a rather hilarious sight. There was a dwarf standing with battle axe in hand next to a red-haired human staring at a brightly clothed kender running at him. The dwarf put his axe on his back as the kender ran up to hug him. Realization kicked Delano in the head like a horse of who the three were, when the human began laughing as the dwarf tackled the little one. Since it was the day the reunion was scheduled, the only red-haired person he could think of that would be laughing at a dwarf and a kender rolling around on the ground . . .<p>

Tanis . . . Flint . . . Tasslehoff . . .

". . . my friends," Delano whispered as he stood up. He had almost convinced himself to leave and not go to the inn for the reunion, but seeing his friends again . . . Just seeing them again brought a smile to his face and a tear to his eye. Memories came flooding back of all the good times and close calls they had all those years ago, and he slowly started walking down to the road, putting the pipe in one of his robes' inner pockets.

Well, he thought, I'm here now. Let's get this over with.

* * *

><p>Tanis was in the process of untangling Flint and Tas when he noticed someone coming down from the ridge. It looked to be a mage wearing black robes, but the closer the person got, the more blue the half-elf could see amongst the black. As he drew even closer, Tanis could see the white outlining the cuffs and hood. The half-elf could also see a black staff with a silver dragon curled around the top and a sword hanging from the left hip . . . A sword? Now he was really confused. He must have had a perplexed look on his face, because when Flint and Tas looked up, they immediately spun around to look in the direction Tanis was staring.<p>

Delano saw the looks on the three faces once he got to the road and figured he better say something before the wrong impression was made. "Easy friends, it's just me," he said as he removed his hood.

"Delano!" screamed Tasslehoff as he ran forward to hug his old friend. Tanis and Flint were a little more hesitant.

"Your appearance worries me," Tanis said once Tas broke the embrace.

"Aye, since when do mages carry swords and wear robes colored like that?" Flint said with a look of suspicion on his face.

Delano looked down at his robes. "Well, the robes I can't really explain. I just like the way they look. The sword isn't for me." He looked back up. "And, I would imagine I'm not officially a mage seeing as how I never completed the Test."

It was then that Tanis noticed Delano's eyes. Gone was the fiery ambition, the humor, the friend he once knew; instead Delano had a look in his eyes like his soul had aged a thousand years. Flint noticed them too.

"Don't listen to them. I like the robes, and might I mention it's good to see some color in them, the blue is a little dark, but we can work on that. Love the staff by the way, what's its name? And a sword! What are you doing with a sword? Can you use it? How-" Tas stopped mid sentence at the sound of Flint's voice.

"Ah, lad, what happened to you?" Flint asked in his concerned grandfather tone, one he's only used a few times with his companions. Delano looked over at Flint for a moment, looked down, then at Tanis, trying to look the half-elf in the eyes. When he couldn't, Tanis's heart sank.

Tanis walked over, placed his hands on Delano's shoulders, and looked him in the eyes with serious concern twisting the half-elf's face. "Delano, what happened?"

Delano looked down at Tas, ruffled his top knot with his right hand, and brought his gaze back to meet Tanis's. "I almost didn't come," he finally said.

The three friends were shocked. What could possibly have happened to their young friend? Tanis lowered his arms and took a step back to regard Delano more closely. The proud, loyal, albeit sometimes cruel, prospective mage that filled their days with laughter five years ago was gone. A dark shell of his former self stood before them now. What could have changed him so much? Tanis thought.

"You see boys, our work is never done. Never let your guard down, you never know what scum will mosey on in to our town."

The four friends spun to see who had spoken. Immediately Tanis cursed himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. Upon a runt of a horse sat a hobgoblin, seven goblins spread out behind him, brandishing swords that dripped a liquid the half-elf assumed to be poison. Goblins were well known to poison their blades to gain the upper hand since they were shorter than most races on Krynn.

"You are all under arrest for violating curfew." At that, he turned and leaned down to speak to the goblins. "Take the blue crystal staff if you find it and take the mage's staff anyway," he said in goblin, a language that sounded like frogs. Switching back to Common, he said, "And if they resist, kill them." He flashed a toothy grin to the companions as he rode off.

"Goblins! In Solace! Someone has a lot to answer for," Flint growled as he removed his battle axe from his back and took his accustomed ready stance. Tanis removed his sword from its scabbard while Tas and Delano remained still.

"I'd advise you to follow your master and leave us be," Delano barked in the goblin tongue. "There is no blue staff or whatever among us, and if you touch any of my friends, you'll meet whatever foul god you worship this evening." The goblins hesitated for a moment, not used to seeing skilled fighters and a mage (although they did see one earlier that day in red robes). Most of whom they bullied were weary peddlers and farmers. Goblins, however, are not known for their intellect, so they charged in.

Since Delano was the closest to them, the goblins went after him first. Muttering a few words in the language of magic, the heads of the two goblins in front burst into flames, causing them to drop to their knees screeching as their skulls melted in on themselves. Saying another word of magic, the bottom third of Delano's staff turned into a blade and he swung it upwards at the third goblin, splitting him in half from between his legs up through his skull. The other four goblins did not see what happened to their comrades for they were engaging the other three companions.

Tanis was dumbfounded, barely managing to block an attack as he witnessed Delano's swift dispatching of three of the goblins. Flint had not noticed since he was busy decapitating one of the goblins. Tas noticed though. He stared in wide-eyed amazement as he absently threw a dagger into the chest of the goblin running at him, felling him in mid-step. Tanis soon recovered and killed one goblin while disarming the last one. Flint turned and saw Tanis and Tas staring in disbelief at Delano as he walked over to the disarmed goblin lying on the ground and placed his right boot on the goblin's neck.

"What are you doing here? Who sent you?" Delano demanded in goblin. At that, the goblin grinned and started laughing.

"You'll find out soon enough _mage_," the goblin spat. "Your death at his hands will make you wish our poison had killed you. I wish I could be there to see your face" his voice cut off as Delano drove the blade end of his staff through the goblin's temple. Wiping the blood off the blade on the goblin's tunic, Delano spoke a word and the blade turned back into an inconspicuous bottom part of the staff.

Delano stood thinking for a second. What in the Abyss are goblins doing in Solace? he thought. A blue crystal staff? I should find that hobgoblin and "ask" him some questions. I don't mind not ever seeing anyone I care about again, but I will not stand goblins roaming around my parents' home. Feeling the eyes of his friends on him, he sighed and turned around to face them. Looking at his friends' faces, he could see stupefied surprise (and was that fear?). Raistlin would laugh at that.

"That was great Delano! How did you melt their heads like that? How did you do that with your staff? I've never seen a staff do that before, could you teach me how to do that with my hoopak? Please, Delano?"

"That . . . if you haven't completed the Test, how were you able to do that?" Tanis asked apprehensively.

Delano looked at the goblins he killed. He cursed himself for being so efficient. I shouldn't have done that in front of them, he scolded himself. Delano looked at each of his friends for a moment. The looks in Tanis's and Flint's faces broke his heart. Tas looked like he always did, bright-eyed and inquisitive. "I . . ." What in the name of the Abyss am I supposed to say? "It's complicated."

"I don't understand. In the name of Reorx, how did you do that? Are you possessed?" asked Flint, desperate to understand.

"No, I'm not possessed."

Tanis just stared at him in disbelief. Delano felt extremely out of place and uncomfortable. This isn't fair! he screamed in his head. These are my friends, my family. And now I've scared them. I shouldn't have come. He met Tanis's gaze.

"I don't understand," Tanis said finally.

"This . . ." Delano began. What am I supposed to say? he asked himself. I need Raistlin; I need to talk to him. "I don't know what to say or where to begin. I – I need to talk to Raistlin before I," this sounds so childish, he thought. They trusted Raistlin less than they trusted him. That however, might have just changed. "I need to talk to Raistlin before I can explain."

"Great," Flint muttered. "Just what we need. What else is going to ruin this reunion?"

Tanis stood thinking for a moment. This is not the homecoming I envisioned for all these years, he thought. Flint might be right, what else can go wrong? Stop that, the half-elf admonished himself. Delano may be many things, but he has always been a trustworthy and loyal friend. "C'mon Delano, let's go get some of Otik's spiced potatoes and ale. I've been dreaming of them for years. Whatever happened, we're still your friends," he said as he smiled at Delano.

With a pained smile, Delano nodded at Tanis. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

The four of them turned and began walking towards Solace and the Inn of the Last Home, nightfall settling in.


	2. Chapter 2

The Inn of the Last Home was the largest building in Solace, high up a huge vallenwood tree that stood at the edge of the crossroads on the edge of the tree town. All of the buildings were in the trees in Solace, a defense mechanism the people enacted after the Cataclysm to avoid the roaming bands of mercenaries, bandits and other dangerous things that littered the lands of Krynn after the gods left. Only the blacksmith's shop rested on the ground, since having a working forge in the branches of a tree was admittedly a bad idea.

The four friends made their way to the base of the giant tree where the staircase that wound around the trunk up to the door of the inn started. The tension in the town was so thick you could almost drink it. People looked upon each other with suspicion, not the warmth they would have shown five years ago. Although the suspicious looks were directed at all four of them, they eventually landed on Delano and lingered, as if willing him to disappear. This behavior was not lost on Tanis, Flint and Tas, and they exchanged worried glances, occasionally looking back at Delano to make sure no one had struck him. Delano had attached his staff to a brace on his cloak, so he walked behind the other three with his hands folded in the sleeves of his robes, hood pulled low over his face. The behavior was _definitely_ not lost on Delano, who felt more unwelcome here than he had in the Tower of Wayreth, if that could even be possible.

Delano sighed to himself. Why am I here? he wondered as he walked up the stairs. It seems like everywhere I go I'm not wanted. If I had chosen this fate, I could deal with it. In a sick twist of fate, I guess I did choose it, but what kind of choice is that? Death or the life of an outcast. Who would possibly choose death? Especially since, at the time, I didn't realize the ramifications of my choice. I was only trying to stay alive, like every other living being on Krynn. Lost in his thoughts, Delano didn't realize his friends had stopped to wait in line for the door and walked into Flint, nearly knocking him over.

"Watch it dammit, the inn is crowded. We have to wait our turn," Flint growled back at Delano.

"Sorry Flint."

"No snappy comment?" Flint regarded him for a moment. "You really have changed, lad."

"Unfortunately, yes," Delano said in a subdued tone.

"Finally," snapped Tanis under his breath. "Come on guys, we can go in, I think Tas has already made his way to the bar."

"Caramon!" They could hear Tas even before they went inside.

"That means Raistlin is here," Flint said with an undisguised lack of warmth. He looked back and saw Delano looking at him and realized how he had sounded. Flint opened his mouth to say something else, but couldn't think. His distrust of Raistlin was no secret, not many of the companions hid it very well save for Tanis, but Flint generally liked Delano and made it a point to hide his feelings about Raistlin around him because of the relationship the two boys had. He had been caught red-handed and he knew it. Delano looked at Flint for another moment, then moved past him and walked into the inn leaving Flint standing on the steps. He sighed into his beard, then turned around and walked into the inn.

* * *

><p>Raistlin sat at the table unconsciously stirring his putrid herbal tea while thinking about the goblin encounter earlier. He was searching his brain, looking for any mention in his studies of the blue crystal staff the hobgoblin Fewmaster Toede was looking for. His stirring slowed as he sensed a sudden influx of power. Some very powerful magic had just been used and he wasn't sure what kind it was.<p>

"Hey Raist," Caramon started as he walked back to the table and sat down, "whatcha thinking about?"

Raistlin peered over at him as he sat down, irritated at the interruption. "Leave me be," he hissed.

Dejected, Caramon looked down into his mug. "Sure, Raist." He took a sip of his ale and scanned the room, looking for the rest of the companions that had sworn an oath to be there that night.

Raistlin turned to look out the window and tried to regain his train of thought. He should have been able to tell what kind of magic it was. He would definitely be able to tell if it belonged to one of the three gods of magic. His came from Lunitari, the magic god that supplied the red robes with magic, and though the magic of Solinari and Nuitari had slightly different feels to them (white robes and black robes, respectively), they were all the same type; in fact, many mages couldn't tell the difference between them. Raistlin smiled at that. _He_ could tell the difference, which meant he was more in tune with magic in general. And that meant he would become more powerful than most, if not all, of the other mages on Krynn. He finally determined that the spell happened too far away to get an accurate feel. It was powerful though, whatever it was. He made a mental note to keep any senses he had on alert for that feeling, should he encounter it again.

The food Raistlin ordered arrived: bread, small cuts of chicken and some local greens he enjoyed when he was younger. He began picking at it, checking the tenderness of the chicken and the hardness of the bread. The chicken was edible, but he found that he needed to dip the bread in his horrendous tasting tea just to make it soft enough for him to chew. Idiots, he cursed.

Caramon, on the other hand, wasn't able to just sit there and drink. The inn was more crowded than he'd ever seen it, and he and Raistlin were sitting at the large table against the wall across from the fireplace. The table could seat eight or more, and they were the only two sitting at it. It seemed that every time he turned around, he was defending the empty seats at the table, explaining over and over that those seats were reserved. It was becoming a headache and he wished his friends would hurry up.

After finishing the ale in his mug, he noticed that the waitress was too busy to come by their table so he walked up to the bar to get more. The waitress was Tika Waylan, the same girl Otik had taken in when her parents died, and the same girl that was only 14 when the companions embarked on their five year quest to check on the evil growing in the world and maybe some sign of the ancient, true gods. Tika was 19 now, and very much an attractive woman. Caramon watched her every chance he got, trying to not seem obvious, imagining her without that low-cut white blouse on. She seemed to enjoy him looking at her, which Caramon hoped would turn into a warm bed tonight. Receiving his new ale at the bar, he heard a voice shout his name that instantly brought a large smile to his face. He looked over at the door and saw Tasslehoff Burrfoot running towards him, arms outstretched. Laughing, he picked Tas up in a large hug.

Raistlin heard Tasslehoff and looked over to see his brother lift the kender up in a bear hug. Tasslehoff being somewhere usually meant that Flint and Tanis were not far behind. He smiled. He was going to enjoy greeting them at the table. As soon as he thought that, his senses picked up that odd feeling again. It was much, much fainter, but he felt it all the same. His curiosity piqued, he looked over to the door and saw Tanis come in, talking to a – Raistlin's eyes widened – black robed mage behind him. A few seconds later, Flint walked in. The odd feeling increased ever so slightly and he attempted to seriously look at the black robe before the crowd blocked his view. "Damn," he cursed. There were too many people in the inn to keep an eye on anyone for very long. Luckily, the tip of mages staff stood above the crowd, so Raistlin could follow him as he moved through the crowd. It also helped that most people there seemed hesitant to touch the black robe, so they parted as he walked among them.

Tonight just got very interesting, thought Raistlin.

* * *

><p>Tanis walked up to Caramon as he set down Tas. He suffered through one of the big man's bear hugs without too much protest, and clasped Caramon's shoulder with his left hand once back on the ground. "Where's Raistlin?"<p>

Caramon pointed to the large table that Tas was heading towards. "He's over at that table, and dammit, it's been hard work keeping your seats open. You're late." He grinned while slapping Tanis on the shoulder. He suddenly got very serious. "He's changed, Tanis."

Great, thought Tanis, two mages that came back tonight the worse for wear. Tanis looked back to see where Delano was. He was still trying to make his way through the crowd to the bar. "Caramon, that's Delano in the black and blue, and he's changed too. I think something's wrong with him."

Hearing Delano's name, Caramon's face lit up until Tanis made that last statement. Looking over Tanis's shoulder, he could see Delano trying to make his way through the crowd, with the patrons trying their best to avoid touching him. It would've been comical if it wasn't one of his dear friends that he was looking forward to seeing again after all this time. Behind Delano, Caramon caught brief glimpses of Flint trying to wade through the crowd.

Delano finally managed to get up to where Caramon and Tanis stood. Tanis turned and leaned his back against the bar so Delano could get to Caramon. Delano went up and stood before the large warrior. Seeing his old friend warmed his heart. He suddenly didn't feel so bad about coming.

"How have you been, midget minotaur?" Delano pulled his hood back and smiled.

* * *

><p>Raistlin was trying his best to watch the black robe walk up to Caramon and talk to him. When a small clearing opened in the crowd, Raistlin got a good look at his robes. They were black with dark blue mixed in – something a mage's robes should never look like. Was he a renegade? If so, why draw attention to himself wearing those robes? No, he told himself, even a renegade mage's powers draw from one of the three gods of magic. This man emanated a power that Raistlin had never felt before, and definitely the source of the previous feelings he had. As Raistlin contemplated what he was seeing, the man talking to Caramon pulled back his hood. Raistlin saw the man's face and did something he has never done before: he froze. He even stopped breathing for a moment, for he recognized that man.<p>

"It can't be . . ." Raistlin stared in disbelief. "They told me he died during the Test."

* * *

><p>The old man in the gray robes sat in his chair slowly drinking ale, telling stories of the old gods to children, and watched the people in the inn. He was having a good time, relishing in the looks on the children's faces as he spun tale after tale of the old gods and dragons. He thought it a shame that the wonder of children disappeared as they aged and narrowed their minds.<p>

Noticing Raistlin, he sighed. He too felt what the young mage was feeling and wasn't quite sure how it would all play out. This new sensation was something Krynn had not seen before, at least not in this capacity. This worried the old man for it was an anomaly, an uncertainty on the playing field that couldn't be accounted for.

"Delano Baeron, my child, I do not envy the road you will be walking," he said into his mug as he took a drink of ale. Watching the young man walk through the crowd in the inn and seeing the looks he was receiving, the old man sighed. "I pray the goodness in your heart will return." He looked back over to Raistlin and frowned. "I wish Delano's demeanor and decision didn't depend so much on your reaction." He noticed a tug on his sleeve and looked down. The young boy at the front of the group of children was asking him to tell another story. "I hope there will still be stories to tell in a few years time," he muttered before smiling at the boy and beginning another story.

* * *

><p>Smiling at Delano's old nickname for him, Caramon lifted the young man up in a bear hug. He missed his childhood friend very much, all the more so because of the effect he had on Raistlin. His brother was a much happier person around Delano, and Caramon had wished the young man was with them for the past five years, especially because of Raistlin's transformation. Maybe things would have turned out differently.<p>

"Delano, where have you been all these years?" A tear came to Caramon's eye as he held Delano tightly. He realized that the young man had trouble breathing because of the embrace and set him back down. He placed his hands on Delano's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. It was then that he noticed the massive change in his friend's eyes. This change was almost more shocking than the one Raistlin had gone through. That broke the big warrior's heart. "What . . . What happened?" Caramon finally managed to say.

Delano sighed as a pained smile graced his face and eyes. "I will try my best to explain after I talk to Raistlin. Where is he?"

Caramon pointed over to the table across from the fireplace. "Over there. Come, follow me." Delano fell in step behind the warrior as he started pushing through the crowd at the bar. Tanis and Flint exchanged glances.

"What have we come back to?" Flint looked from Tanis to Delano and sighed. "We're still two short, friend. I hope no more surprises show up." At that, Flint turned to follow Caramon and Delano.

"You and me both," Tanis said as he began following the trio. "You and me both."

Reaching the table, Caramon sat in the chair across from his brother. Tanis and Flint both moved to grab a seat while Delano stood back from the table, almost as if he wasn't welcome to sit with them. He stood there staring at Raistlin with a puzzled look on his face.

Tanis got a look at the red robe's face before he sat down and paused, half sitting and half standing. He stared in undisguised horror at Raistlin. "By the gods," he breathed.

Flint heard Tanis and followed his gaze. "_Reorx_! What evil is this?" His face mimicked Tanis's.

It was then that Tasslehoff finally showed up at the companion's table. "What a good crowd tonight. So many people are here, I don't think I've ever seen this place so crowded. Even—" He paused once he noticed how quiet his friends were, contrasting heavily with the rest of the inn. He looked over at Raistlin and his eyes widened. "Raistlin! You're like a golden statue! How-" He stopped mid-sentence when Flint smacked him in the arm. "Hey, what was that for?"

Raistlin, vastly out of character, was oblivious to what was going on around him. He didn't even hear any of what was said. He was transfixed, staring at his one true friend who was supposed to be dead. His brain regained its ability to think, and he was brought back to the present. It was more than the fact Delano was supposed to be dead. Like himself, the major change was in the eyes.

Delano saw the look on Raistlin's face, but that was overshadowed by the physical changes his childhood friend had gone through. His skin was gold, like a golden statue, and his eyes were gold with hourglass pupils. A twisted smile crept onto Delano's face. "It seems I'm not the only one Par Salian cursed."

A similar smiled graced Raistlin's face. "Indeed. Come sit down," Raistlin said as he gestured towards the chair next to him. "We apparently have much to discuss, especially since you're supposed to be dead."

The rest of the companions shot glances at each other. All at once they exclaimed, "Dead?"

Delano looked around at the faces of his friends, then back at Raistlin and laughed, the first laugh anyone at the table had heard from him since returning. "Is that what you heard?"

"Yes," replied Raistlin.

Delano looked around the inn for the waitress. Once he saw her, he motioned her over, feeling a familiar stirring in his loins as he saw the tight-fitting attire she wore. "Perchance might I have a word with you in private Raistlin?"

Raistlin thought for a moment while he waited for Tika to make her way to their table. He slowly stood, saying, "Of course."

Tika came to stand in front of Delano. "My, my, my. Tika, my dear, you truly have grown. What a wonderful sight you turned out to be," Delano said as he smiled at her. She blushed at that, causing Caramon to feel jealous. Delano had always been able to get any girl he wanted, regardless of who the girl was with or talking to. "Say, would there happen to be an empty room Raistlin and I could use for a little while? We have some things to discuss in private."

"There is one that we can't rent until the laundry is done. It's the first one on your right, let me go get the key," Tika said as she smiled at Delano and went over to the bar.

Delano grabbed her arm before she got out of reach. "Might we have a couple of glasses of wine too?"

She smiled at his touch and looked back at him. "Sure thing Delano."

Raistlin came over to stand next to Delano. Being right next to him, the odd feeling was strong, almost intoxicating. The joy he felt at seeing Delano alive cooled as he regarded his friend. Something was not right. The Conclave must have had a reason for saying he died. He would have to watch himself around his old friend, something he was sorry for.

Tika returned then with the key and wine and handed them to Delano, pointing them towards the stairs before she realized that they knew exactly where they were going. Delano handed one of the glasses to Raistlin, then they turned and walked away. Tika shook her head and smiled. She then turned to the table and asked if the rest of the companions needed anything.

"Yes, please," Caramon spoke up, smiling at her. "Some of those famous spiced potatoes and a round of ale, on me." She smiled back and left to go place their order.

Watching the two walk over to the stairs, Flint shook his head. "I don't like this."

Tanis was watching them walk away too. "Those two were always a handful when they got together, but with the drastic changes both of them have gone through . . . I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, c'mon guys. Let them talk and come back to tell us what's going on. You'll see. It'll be like old times again." Caramon wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, his friends or himself.

"I wish you were right, Caramon, I really do," Tanis said as he picked up the mug of ale Tika had set in front of him. "But with everything I've seen today, I'm not so sure."

"Tanis," Tika said. "Something arrived for you earlier today under strange circumstances."

"Strange circumstances?"

"Yea, a man, at least I think it was a man, delivered it after lunch." Tika shivered at the memory. "He was so covered in clothing of every description that I couldn't even see his face. He spoke in a strange accent with a hissing sound, almost like a snake. 'Deliver this to one Tanis Half-Elven.' I told him you weren't here and haven't been for over five years. He just said, 'He will be,' and left."

Tanis frowned as she handed him an elegant scroll case made out of black polished wood. He opened it, removed the parchment, and began reading. His heart leapt into his throat as he recognized the hand writing of Kitiara, the person he most wanted to see at this reunion and the half-sister of Raistlin and Caramon. The more he read, the more his heart sank. His emotions were easily read on his face and the others at the table looked at him in concern.

"Well, speak up," Flint prodded.

"It's from Kitiara." He slowly folded the parchment in his hands. "She's not coming."

A moment of stunned silence befell the table. After everything that's happened that day, this news was the last thing any of them wanted to hear. "That's done it," Flint spat. "The circle is broken, the oath denied. Bad luck." Shaking his head, Flint muttered into his ale. "Bad luck. Our lives are about to take a turn for the worse."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: This was a really difficult chapter. I agonized over it before finally posting it, deciding that I needed some opinions other than mine. I hope the version of Raistlin I've created feels right. That was probably my biggest concern writing this as he is the one character I don't want to screw up. Let me know what you think.**

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><p>Delano and Raistlin walked up the stairs that emptied into a hallway. Walking up to the door of the first room on the right, Delano paused. Looking at the door, memories came flooding back and a genuine smile (one that his face hadn't known in five years) spread across his face.<p>

"Well," Raistlin hissed. "Are we going in or not?" Delano supposed that tone usually made others flinch, but he just found it funny.

Looking back at Raistlin, Delano laughed. "You don't remember this room, do you?" He unlocked the door and walked in, expecting Raistlin to follow him. The room was like all the others in the inn: a bed against one wall, dresser against another and a table with chairs and a lamp next to the window.

Raistlin was taken aback. His eyes drilled holes into the back of Delano's head as his friend walked into the room. No one has been this flippant with Raistlin in years, and the last one that had had regretted it. Opening his mouth to say something, he paused. This was the one man on Krynn he allowed to get away with murder. Taking a sip of his wine, Raistlin smiled and walked into the room. He had missed his friend dearly. "No. Should I?"

"Why, Raistlin, I'm surprised. No memory at all?"

"Stop trying my patience," Raistlin hissed as he set down his wine glass on the table. "Out with it."

Delano took a sip of his wine then set the glass down on the table near Raistlin's. Standing there, he looked over Raistlin, taking in the sight that was his best friend. The golden skin suited him, in a twisted sort of way. If anyone could pull off looking normal with golden skin, it was Raistlin. "As much trouble as I went through eight years ago getting you and Lissel in this room, how could you _not_ remember?"

Raistlin groaned. Now he remembered. Delano spent an entire year trying to get Raistlin to lay with a girl, and he finally succeeded that night eight years ago, thanks to a stolen bottle of red wine. In fact, it was the same wine they were drinking now. Looking at his friend, Raistlin smiled. Even though he would never openly admit it, he did have a few fond memories of what he now considered his previous life. And they all revolved around Delano.

Returning his smile, Delano embraced Raistlin. "I've missed you," he said as a tear came to his eye. They stood in that embrace for a few moments before Raistlin broke it.

"You were always far more sentimental than I," Raistlin said as he noticed the tear in Delano's eye. "However, you didn't bring me in here to talk about old times."

Leave it to Raistlin to ruin a good moment. Wiping the tear from his eye, Delano grabbed his wine glass, walked over to the foot of the bed, and sat down. Raistlin sat down in one of the chairs next to the table, noticing that his cough hadn't bothered him since Delano walked into the inn. Whether that was from the power emanating from his old friend or the simple fact that it was his old friend, Raistlin didn't know. "You always preferred beds to chairs," he said with a smirk, surprising himself as he said it. He had spoken that statement before he thought about it, a bad habit that Delano brought out in him.

Delano looked up in surprise before he returned Raistlin's smirk. "Yes, a habit I failed to instill in you. So, my friend isn't totally gone. Try as you might, those new eyes of yours don't hide your soul as well as you want them to."

"You are the only one that can read them, it seems." Raistlin stared at Delano over the rim of his wine glass as he took a sip. "Though, it looks like my old friend _is _'totally gone.' What have you done? Why is the Conclave saying you're dead? Why is there an aura around you I don't recognize? What kind of power do you have?"

Delano tried, but he couldn't even hold the gaze of his best friend. He looked at the floor. Raistlin raised an eyebrow at that. This wasn't like his old friend at all. Delano was never one to avert his gaze under questioning. Actually, Delano used to stare down people questioning him, a trait that got him out of trouble more than a few times. Something was wrong. "Delano," Raistlin said softly, "talk to me."

Hearing the tone in which Raistlin spoke, Delano slowly looked up to meet his friend's gaze. Raistlin had used that tone only once before and that was after a brutal battle with a group of trolls in which all of the companions had suffered injuries, though Delano's was the only life threatening one. Delano had saved their lives, but at the cost of a spear lodged in his chest puncturing a lung. Raistlin sent the others for help while he sat on the ground with his friend's head in his lap. Fearing his best friend was going to die, Raistlin talked to him to try and keep him conscious. He used the same tone then as he had just used.

Delano took a sip of his wine and stood up. Raistlin saw his friend's face harden, but what surprised him was the hardening of his eyes. They took on a look that he had seen before. It was the look of a man who knew everyone hated him, but didn't give a damn. Raistlin didn't like it. That look didn't suit Delano, who was always lively and gregarious. It was preposterous to think of him as a solitary being. Raistlin, on the other hand, was fine being alone. It was Delano who kept dragging him out to social gatherings, inviting him into conversations, gods, had even gotten him laid. Now, the friend that had done all those things for Raistlin was gone. In his place was a cold and broken man. Raistlin shivered.

"I almost didn't come tonight," Delano said. "In fact, the only reason I'm here is that I couldn't think of another destination to teleport to."

"Of all the places on Krynn, how come Solace was the only one?"

"I only had a few seconds to think. I jumped out the window of a four story building in Palanthas and the stone street was approaching faster than I would have liked."

Raistlin suppressed a smile. "She was married?"

"A fact she neglected to tell me."

Raistlin's mind finally registered what Delano just told him. "Wait, you teleported while _falling_?"

The smile that showed on Delano's face was one Raistlin had never seen on his friend before. It was malicious even for a black robe. "I impressed myself with that one. I wish Par Salian could have seen it." His hatred for the head of the Conclave dripped off the name as he said it. "Nothing said leaves this room, understand?"

Raistlin's eyes narrowed. The way that last statement came out sounded like an order. He would put up with a lot from his friend for old time's sake, but no one gave him an order. Raistlin put down his glass and stood up, his eyes never leaving Delano's. The situation was getting intense for a friendly chat, and Raistlin was beginning to feel uneasy in his old friend's presence. "Answer my questions or I'm leaving," he hissed.

Regarding his childhood friend, Delano saw him slipping away, like the others. Not him too, he thought. "Sit down and hear me out. If afterwards you never want to see me again, I'll understand."

That gave Raistlin pause. This was definitely not his old friend. "Fine," he said as he sat back down.

"Let's start over, shall we? Can we agree that what is said here stays between us?" The young mage nodded. "Can we also agree to forget the rules of the Conclave and talk about the Test? I won't ask about yours, but without hearing about mine, you won't understand." Raistlin regarded his friend for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Delano began pacing. "They tried to kill me Ray." Raistlin smiled at the sound of the nickname Delano used to use when just the two of them were talking. "That asshole Par Salian can deny it all he wants, but I know that was his intent. He was afraid of me from the moment I walked into the Tower." Raistlin thought back to the day they both walked into the Tower and remembered the apprehension in Par Salian's eyes as he looked upon the two young men, especially Delano. "I don't know if Laddona and Justarius felt the same or if Par Salian made them go along with it, but I was set up to fail from the beginning. The Test was nothing I couldn't handle until I began walking up the stairs in some tower. A dark elf appeared at the top of the stairs in front of the door leading out. I remember thinking how pathetically easy he was to kill, and as I was casting the last spell that would kill him, he shimmered and split into three. I stepped into the doorway next to me, cursing under my breath, and prepared a different spell. I stepped back onto the staircase and managed to bind two of them. I turned to the third firing off a fireball. Then, covering it with acid, it died and I turned to the other two thinking to kill them off one at a time. Imagine my surprise when the two became six."

Delano stopped pacing and went to stand in front of the window, staring out at the night sky. Raistlin could see him begin to shake in anger. Suddenly wondering if it was safe for him to be in the room, Raistlin looked over at the door, judging the distance. Delano was not someone you wanted to be around when he was seething in anger, and that was before the Test. That was the old Delano. This new man that stood at the window Raistlin didn't know, and was obviously more powerful. His fits of rage could be vastly more destructive.

Delano placed his hands on the windowsill and resumed talking. "I froze and two of them threw spells at me. I was blasted through the door next to me. I landed on a table that collapsed when I hit it, and part of the wall next to the door fell on me. I was pinned down, not strong enough to free myself. One of the dark elves appeared in the doorway, and calling to mind the strongest spell I knew, I sandwiched him between the wall across from the doorway and a boulder the size of the table you were sitting at downstairs, killing him. The other dark elves hesitated after that, I think, since it was a few moments before I saw them."

Turning from the window, Delano walked over to the bed to pick up the wine glass he set on the floor. He took a sip, then looked at Raistlin. "_What_ was I supposed to do? I was pinned under a ton of rock with five dark elves just outside the room. None of the spells I had remaining could save me. Sure, I could have killed a few of them, but five on one for a novice mage is a death sentence. I panicked. I tried to recall the spells I already used, but you know as well as I do that that was impossible. I could only remember bits and pieces of them. From my studies I knew that Magius created many of his own spells, so I decided to give it a shot. What could it hurt?" Delano paused to finish the wine in his glass, then laughed. "What could it hurt indeed."

Raistlin listened to all this in silence. Almost being killed by a dark elf himself during his Test, he could understand the desperation. But six? "What spell was it?"

"I didn't create it from scratch. I pieced together the distorted remnants of the other spells in my mind. Now that I think back on it, I was a fool. I had no idea what would happen, if anything. Little did I know it would become an object of debate for the Conclave. They were furious. And a little frightened, I think. Even the gods of magic were upset."

Raistlin shuddered. Upsetting the gods of magic was the worst thing a mage could do. "Well?"

"I suppose I tapped a plane of existence not known to the Conclave. Whether the gods knew about it or not I don't know." Delano sighed, then looked at Raistlin. "I summoned a demon."

"You _what_?" Raistlin was stunned. His eyes widened, his heart rate increased and his mouth went dry. He tried to grab his glass off the table to take a sip and wet his mouth, but his arm wouldn't obey him. After a few minutes of stunned silence, with Delano looking like he was on trial, Raistlin finally managed to grab his glass and downed the last of his wine. "So, you're possessed now?"

"No, no, no. Nothing like that." Delano walked over to the window and looked out at the road leading into Solace. "Hmm, the goblins seem to have a patrol guarding the entrance into town now. They really are serious about that staff they're looking for." Delano stared out the window for a few long moments, drumming his fingers quietly on the windowsill. "I was scared Ray," he said to the window. "The demon appeared out of thin air. I had never seen a demon before. Only in the book that we found at the school was there any mention of demon summoning at all – half a page, and all of it highly negative. That demon appeared and I was sure the Abyss would be the next place I would see."

Raistlin remembered the book Delano was talking about and there were only two outcomes that summoning a demon could produce: possession or death. Also, Delano never admitted to being scared. He just never used that word. Uneasy? Yes. Shook up? Yes. Alarmed? Startled? Yes and yes. But never scared or frightened. In fact, Raistlin used to tease him that he was part kender. Then, before the red robe could take that chain of thought any further, Delano turned from the window and looked at him.

"The demon stood there glaring at me, and looked extremely upset. It took a step towards me thrashing its tail about and I swear it was getting ready to attack me, to attack the being that had the audacity to summon it. I tried to back away from it, but being pinned under a fallen wall, I could do little more than move my upper body back a foot or so. I had never been so frightened in my entire life. I closed my eyes and prayed to whatever god was listening that death would be quick, for I had done something unspeakably bad." Delano leaned his back against the windowsill. "I heard the demon walk up to stand next to my head. Well, I decided then that if I was going to die at the hands of a demon, I was going to look it in the face while it killed me. This was the first demon I had ever seen, so I was curious about how it planned on killing me. I looked it right in the eyes, and it seemed shocked. It lowered its arm, bent down until I could feel its breath and peered into my eyes."

"I had never seen eyes like the ones this creature possessed before. The entire eye was gold except for a red dot in the center. As it looked into my eyes, those red dots grew 'til they covered most of the gold, then shrank again in what seemed like disbelief then understanding. It straightened back up and spoke in a strange male voice. 'What is the situation?' How I understood him then I'll never know, I guess the spell did that, because he spoke in a tongue I've never heard nor read before. So, I told him what was going on and he seemed to think for a second. He cast a few fireballs through the door and hole where the wall used to be. He then put up a firewall covering the door and hole, took a few steps back and told me how to send him back. Looking at the wall he created, he turned to me and said, 'Send me back, wait one minute, then summon me again.' What was I supposed to do? I sent him back, then panicked 'til I realized I still remembered the words to the summon spell. That was a very long minute."

Delano left the window and walked back over to the bed. He started to sit down, then began fiddling with something on his left hip. After a few seconds, he produced a sword and scabbard, threw them on the bed and sat down. Raistlin saw the sword, but wasn't about to interrupt Delano.

"I summoned him again, oddly feeling my strength return. He appeared, glanced at me and nodded. He looked over at his still burning firewall then told me how to summon another demon. I just stared at him. 'Don't worry, we're not here for conquest,' he told me. And, you know," Delano fixed Raistlin's gaze with his, "strangely, I believed him. So I cast the spell he told me. Another demon appeared, this one obviously female. She looked at the first demon, then at the firewall. She studied it for a second, then turned and walked over to me. She knelt beside my head and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were different from the first one's: solid white with black at the corners and a purple dot in the center. Her purple dots grew and she began to smile. 'I think you're right,' she said to the other demon while still peering into my eyes. 'We're going to help you. Let's get you out from under this wall, shall we?' She giggled as she stood up and the two demons proceeded to extract me from the rubble."

"There I was, standing by the fallen wall staring at them not knowing what to do. I must have had my mouth open in surprise because the female laughed. 'Come on; let's take care of those pesky dark elves. We'll explain a few things afterwards.' The other one nodded at me. Well, I figured, why not? I mean, I was in so deep that following through with it was the only logical choice. Once the firewall burned out, we proceeded to fight the dark elves." Delano got up from the bed, absentmindedly grabbed his staff with his left hand and walked over to the window.

He stared out the window for a moment. Placing his right hand on the windowsill, he resumed his story. "Par Salian must have had an active hand in my Test, because the dark elves were not just waiting there. They had been busy. They were killing off one elf at a time, growing in numbers. We saw nine of them out there. _Nine_. We quickly learned to destroy the bodies of the ones we killed lest they rise into three more. I'm surprised we lived through it."

"After the battle we were all lying on the floor wounded and exhausted. I laid there for a few moments, then crawled over to the demons to see if they were okay. They fared better than I did, so I was relieved that I hadn't gotten them killed. We all rested for a few moments more, then they got to their feet so I did the same." Delano sighed. Raistlin did notice that it was a sigh of contentment, not of regret or dread. Delano liked this memory. "I learned their names, they learned mine. His was Zangthyk and hers was Bexta. They looked at each other for a moment, nodded, then Bexta walked up to me. 'There hasn't been one like you in a very, very long time Delano,' she said as she ran her fingers across my chest. She looked over at Zangthyk and he nodded. She looked back to me and placed her right hand on my shoulder. 'Ooo, I'm going to enjoy this. You are so cute.' She caressed my cheek with her left hand. 'Don't worry Delano, this is not going to hurt.' She giggled. 'In fact, this is going to feel ecstatic for the both of us.' I saw Zangthyk begin to cast a spell. 'What . . . what are you going' I managed to get out before she placed a finger on my lips. 'Shhh,' she cooed. 'It's my first time too. Don't worry, I don't bite.' Then she winked at me. She began to glow light red as Zangthyk cast his spell. She then cast one of her own and added purple to the red." Delano leaned against the wall with his shoulder, lost in the memory. "She placed both of her hands on my cheeks then kissed me. Not just on the lips, it was a deep kiss. Out of habit I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. I began to feel a buzzing in my lips and tongue that slowly radiated out to fill my head, then down my spine spreading throughout my entire being, causing my body to glow the same color as her. It was the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt. The kiss lasted until both of us stopped glowing, something like two minutes. She broke the kiss and pulled her head back, staying in my embrace. 'Wow . . . that was amazing,' she whispered."

"'That's enough, we need to get back.' Zangthyk seemed anxious to go. 'Maybe sometime in the future we'll see just how far that kiss goes,' Bexta told me while caressing my cheek again before breaking the embrace and turning to go." Delano came out of his memory trance and turned to look at Raistlin. "I asked them what just happened and Bexta looked at me over her shoulder. 'We have given you something that Krynn has not seen before in a mortal. That kiss was more than just pleasure; it was also our magic flowing into you. We'll explain more at a later date, seeing as how this is your Test and we need to leave and everything. Call one of us when you have some free time. Don't fret your cute little head over it, Master Warlock,' she said as she grinned. 'Time for you to send us back.' So, I did, I sent them back."

Delano leaned his staff against the wall and left the window to walk over and stand in front of Raistlin. "When I awoke after finishing the Test – wait. I didn't wake up, I was woken up. I was dragged from the bed, placed in chains and brought before an emergency meeting of the Conclave. I never thought I'd see so much anger and fear in the eyes of the most powerful mages on Krynn. They decided I was too dangerous to live." Raistlin saw Delano clench his fists in anger. "All I tried to do was survive! I wasn't ready to die so I reached out to the only thing I could think of: I summoned Bexta." Delano laughed. "You should have _seen_ the faces of those mages. She took one look around, ran over to me and took me with her to her home plane. I assume that's why the Conclave considers me dead. They didn't get to kill me themselves, but I disappeared with a demon, so they must have figured I would never return. The demon plane is . . . interesting. Well, interesting doesn't do it justice. Mind-reeling is more accurate. It took awhile for my senses to adjust. When I finally made it back to Krynn, two years had passed. I learned many things, but now I feel like I don't belong here anymore; if that makes any sense."

Delano looked at Raistlin expectantly, but the red robe was too stunned to speak. This was too much to take in. He slowly got up, retrieved his staff, and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Delano watched his friend leave. Once the door closed, he walked over to the window and looked at the night sky over Solace.

"Well, what did you expect?" He turned his head and looked over at the sword. There it sat where he threw it in a scabbard so black it seemed to absorb the light. He shook his head and turned to his staff. He reached over and caressed the soft wood with his left hand. He sighed a little and picked it up. The staff felt comforting in his hand. "I probably would have done the same thing."

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><p>Raistlin stood in the hallway deep in thought. Anyone walking down the hallway would have assumed he was staring at the wall. This was a lot to digest. Demons helping him? Living with them on their home plane? A kiss transferring magic? If anyone other than Delano had told him that, he would have called them a liar and walked away. But Delano had never lied to him before. Even still, had he not seen the drastic change in his old friend personally, he wouldn't have believed it. And, to be honest, the story made sense. He had wondered why there were so many high ranking mages in the Tower when he himself woke up after his Test. And the way they told him about Delano's fate irked him. Like they were glad he was dead. Raistlin was rather upset about his friend, but Par Salian kept insisting that there were complications during Delano's Test and that death is an understood part of the process. Raistlin persisted with his questions (he refused to believe that his friend would allow himself to be killed), but the other mages were adamant about the conversation being over. What –<p>

"Raist, is everything okay?" Caramon was walking up the stairs to the hallway. Raistlin and Delano had been gone for awhile and the rest of the companions were getting worried.

"Dammit, not now Caramon!"

Caramon stopped mid-step, looked down and turned around to go back downstairs. "Okay Raist." Muttering some curses, Raistlin returned to his thinking.

Another thing that was bothering him was how uncomfortable he now felt in Delano's presence. The two had been best friends. Actually, more than that, more like brothers. Raistlin suffered Caramon, but he enjoyed being around Delano; at least he used to. The elation he had felt upon seeing Delano alive was snuffed out by the change in his friend and the story he just heard. Not to mention the power that emanated from Delano. It was different, so different in fact, that it lent credence to the story. And, so different that Raistlin had to admit he was a little scared of it. He had always thought that the two of them would grow in power together, become the two most powerful mages on Krynn. What Delano claimed to be now was . . . He needed to understand. He needed this to make sense in his mind. And yet . . . would things have turned out differently if the situations were reversed? I need some questions answered before I can figure all this out, he thought. And if this turns out to be true and I can trust him like I did before . . . He took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled so he could gather himself. Making up his mind, he turned to walk back into the room. He reached out his hand for the doorknob, stopped, then smiled to himself as he knocked. Besides, maybe Delano can do what Par Salian couldn't: fix his lungs and get rid of the cough.

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><p>Delano turned away from the window when he heard the knock. I guess the laundry is done, he thought. He walked over to the door, opened it, and stood in surprise as he saw the source of the knock.<p>

"May I come in?" Raistlin asked.

Delano stepped back and gestured for Raistlin to come in. He closed the door and turned around. His friend was standing there next to him. He just stared at the red robe.

"Before I take one more step into this room," Raistlin hissed, "I need some questions answered."

"By all means."

"Is 'warlock' the demon's term for one they allow to summon them?"

"Yes. And these robes I'm wearing denote my status as one, according to them."

"Where does your power come from? It's obviously not from one of the gods of magic, a fact which I believe is the reason you drew their ire."

"That's not something I can fully explain."

Raistlin's eyes narrowed. "Can't? Or won't?"

"Both. I can't fully explain it, so I won't."

"I see." Raistlin looked at the door then back to Delano. "My patience is far thinner than it was before the Test. I'll give you more latitude than anyone else, but any more word games dancing around my questions and I'm walking away."

Delano paused for a moment to consider his words before he opened his mouth. "Ray," he said as he took a step towards the red robe, causing his old friend to involuntarily take a step back. The young warlock noticed. "Huh," he said as he smirked. "So, how much of your bravado is an act? Are you unsure of your own abilities?"

Raistlin cursed himself for showing weakness. He met Delano's gaze. "No. I'm unsure of _yours_."

"Fair enough." Delano turned and walked over to the window, leaving the young mage standing by the door. "My power comes from the demon plane."

Raistlin was torn. On the one hand was his desire to remain consistent. He had declared that he wasn't taking another step into this room without some answers, and Delano had ignored that declaration by walking away, expecting him to follow while half answering one question. Raistlin should have walked out right then – if he were being consistent. But, on the other hand, he had an uncanny feeling, a certainty, that this power his old friend now possessed would have a major role in shaping the future of Krynn. The fact that it was his old friend with the power was the only reason he felt even remotely comfortable around it. He intended to remain comfortable around it. Making up his mind, he slowly walked over to the bed. "That's rather vague."

Delano turned from the window and smiled a little as he saw Raistlin by the bed instead of still standing in front of the door. "No more vague than saying yours comes from Lunitari."

Raistlin regarded the warlock a moment. "Fine. Why did they help you? What did they hope to accomplish by giving you power they had never given another mortal before?"

"I'm not sure." Delano left the window to sit in one of the chairs by the table. He placed his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "It was hard to get a clear answer to that question myself. The general consensus amongst the demons was the same, but they all went about explaining it differently. Basically, they were tricked into occupying the plane in which they currently reside."

"By whom?"

"Hiddukel."

"Why?"

"Every demon has a different answer to that question."

Raistlin walked from the bed to the other chair by the table and sat down. He looked at Delano's staff, looked over to the sword on the bed, then glanced at Delano who was still rubbing his temples with his fingers. Where have you been and what have you seen, my friend? he asked silently. "So, the ancient gods are real?"

"Yes." Delano sat up and looked at Raistlin. "Everything worshipped since the Cataclysm was false. It's a shame the Seekers apparently have so much power now. They're completely wrong."

Raistlin sat there staring into Delano's eyes. He was telling the truth, that much was certain. What he was trying to read was the warlock's soul. Those sky blue eyes under blonde eyebrows were never easy for the mage to read, even when they were children. One thing he _could_ tell: there was a new depth to them, a vastness brought about by experience that should have far exceeded his age. Raistlin smiled. They both might have changed drastically, but they were still kindred spirits.

"Why are you carrying a sword?"

"A sword?" Delano had forgotten all about it. He looked over at the bed. "Oh. Oh yeah. That's a present for Caramon. I had some help enchanting it a few years ago. Once I give it to him, the sword will bind to him. As long as Caramon is alive, it can't be damaged. Not even by dragon fire."

"Not even by dragon fire?" Raistlin asked as he raised an eyebrow. "That's a bold statement."

"That's what I was told."

Raistlin snorted and stood up. He walked over to where Delano's staff was leaning against the wall next to the window. He picked it up while setting his own against the wall.

"Does it have a name?" he asked as he turned the staff in his hand, looking it over.

"Does yours?"

"Mine was once held by a very powerful mage, one you have mentioned already tonight."

Delano's eyes widened. "That is the Staff of Magius?"

Raistlin smiled. "It is. Par Salian gave it to me as a sort of apology for my 'transformation.'"

"Let's agree not to speak that name." Raistlin looked over and shrugged his shoulders in acquiescence. Delano stood up, walked over to the window and picked up Raistlin's staff. He looked at it in admiration. "Nice. I can feel the power in it."

Raistlin chuckled. "I'm glad you approve." He looked at the silver dragon at the head of Delano's staff. "I can feel the power in this one, but something's off, like I shouldn't be holding it." He handed it to Delano and retrieved his own.

"This is Dragonblade. The demons gave it to me, said it used to reside on Krynn a very long time ago." Delano said a word and the bottom of the staff turned into a blade. Raistlin's eyes widened at that. "Apparently, this blade his severed the heads of dozens of dragons, and the little silver dragon at the top supposedly has the ability to breathe dragon fire. I haven't figured that out yet." He said another word and the blade disappeared. Looking at Raistlin, he asked, "You done interrogating me now?"

Raistlin regarded his friend for a moment while he chose his words. "I'll admit seeing you was a shock. I spent the last five years thinking you were dead. And now you show up a completely different person claiming to have abilities that shouldn't exist. The power I feel emanating from you worries me since it is alien to me. To be honest, I'm not sure if I feel comfortable around you." Raistlin paused a moment to let his words sink in and to gauge Delano's reaction. He thought he detected a hint of sadness cloud his friend's eyes. "What proof do I have that you're _not_ possessed?"

Delano opened his mouth to speak then caught himself. Well, he thought, that's a legitimate question. In all honesty, I'm not sure I would trust me either. "What proof do you require?"

Raistlin thought about that for a second. He wasn't sure. What kind of proof could Delano possibly have? "I'm not sure. This is a mighty wild tale you have told me."

Delano walked away from the window and went to stand by the foot of the bed. He stared at the door for a few moments while thinking. Nodding as he made up his mind, he spoke without turning around. "Would you like to meet one of them?"

"One of the demons?"

"Yes." Delano turned around to look at his friend. A look of apprehension shone in the red robe's eyes. "Don't worry. You won't be harmed unless you attack me."

Raistlin swallowed as he collected his thoughts. Meet a demon? How much do I trust this new Delano? He moved closer to the window, prepared to jump out if need be. "Very well."

Delano walked over to the door and cast a spell that placed a magical lock on it. He came back over to the foot of the bed, raised his hand and uttered a phrase in a language of magic Raistlin couldn't understand. A purple glow appeared around his hand and spread up to his elbow, then shot back down his arm and onto the floor where the young man was pointing. The glow swelled to the size of a human before disappearing, leaving a creature in its place. What stood there almost caused Raistlin to drop his staff. An exotic creature looked over at Delano, who nodded, then at Raistlin. The mage immediately understood what caused his friend to fondly remember this demon. She stood there in all her demonic glory: milk-white skin faded to purple around her eyes and nipples; her arms got progressively more purple from the elbow to the fingertips and legs that did the same from the knees down; black and purple horns grew out of her forehead and curved to follow the plane of her shoulders; a deep purple leg-length tail came from the bottom of her spine; large black hooves adorned her legs instead of feet; a perfect human female body and face. The only thing she wore was a dress covering her from the waist to the ankles with slits all the way up the sides that were so wide the dress had no choice but to leave the entirety of her legs visible; nothing at all covering her from the waist up.

Raistlin couldn't move. Even with his cursed eyes, he was sure that this creature was the most beautiful thing he would ever see. So he stood there, mouth agape, mind frozen, his hand barely holding onto his staff.

"So, this is the one?" she asked Delano in the demonic tongue as she looked over to the young warlock. "You didn't mention the gold skin and cursed eyes."

"I didn't know about that until today. That happened during his Test," Delano replied in the same tongue. "We should probably talk in Common," he told her.

"But I like our language. It rolls off the tongue and flows _so_ nicely," she pouted.

Delano laughed. "He can't understand us."

"Fine." She sauntered over to stand in front of Raistlin, who was still frozen in place. She reached up and placed a finger under his chin, slowly closing his mouth for him. She giggled. "You shouldn't stare with your mouth open like that. You might attract flies." She looked him over for a few seconds and frowned. "You poor thing. Who gave you those eyes?"

Raistlin's mind finally caught up with the present as it registered her question. "They were a cruel punishment given to me by Par Salian to teach me 'patience.'"

"Patience?" asked Delano.

"Those eyes show the passage of time on all they gaze upon," she told the young warlock. "That old man in white gave you those eyes?"

"Indeed," Raistlin replied. "You must be Bexta."

The demon smiled. "That I am." She snapped her fingers as she walked over to Delano and her horns folded back along her head and became deep purple tattoos that faded to black at the back of her scalp. She leaned her head against the warlock's right breast and draped her left arm across his back on his left shoulder. Noticing Raistlin's surprise, she winked at him. "Those can get in the way during . . . intimate moments." She ran her right hand up Delano's chest to his cheek and turned his head as she gazed up at him. "Has Del told you how we met?"

It was Raistlin's turn to smile. "Del?" The mage chuckled. "I haven't heard him called that since we were children. And yes, he explained many things – at least all we have time for. Though, he did leave out a description of you."

Delano grinned down at Bexta's emerging frown. "Don't look at me like that. No words of mine could have done your beauty justice. He needed to see you in person."

She pondered that for a second, then smiled as she pulled Delano's head down and kissed him. "You're lucky I like you," Bexta said as she spun away from the young warlock and walked back over to Raistlin. "It's been a pleasure, Raistlin Majere. Maybe sometime in the future I'll allow you to ask those questions I see in your eyes." She looked back over at Delano. "And Del, a room with a bed does us no good if there isn't time enough for play." She winked and the warlock sent her away.

"Play?" Raistlin chuckled. "You took her up on her offer, didn't you? I'll wager she taught you a great many things about the art."

Delano was staring at the place Bexta just vacated. He looked up at his friend with a smile on his face. "Oh yes. She is pure ecstasy in bed. In fact, she might have been too good. How am I going to find a mortal to satisfy me now?"

"Such is the cost of the forbidden fruit."

Delano sighed. "Perhaps you're right." He looked around the room before settling his gaze on Raistlin. "So . . ."

Raistlin walked over and stood in front of Delano. They regarded each other for a few moments, then Raistlin smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"With these eyes of mine, I will never see beauty in this world. Being a demon, Bexta will never age. I see her just as you do. Thank you."

Delano smiled. "Still friends?" Raistlin nodded. "Do you still trust me?"

"I'm working on that," replied the young mage. "I'll let your actions speak for themselves. Besides, what better way to see a man's character than by the way he acts?"

"Still as logical as ever." Delano walked over to the bed to pick up the sword. "You were the only one I felt I could relate my story to who wouldn't either run away or try to kill me upon hearing it."

"And if I had tried to kill you?"

"I would've felt really bad about killing you," Delano said as he turned back to Raistlin and smiled.

"Is that so?" Raistlin returned the smile. "At least you haven't completely changed. Still as arrogant as ever."

"Said the pot calling the kettle black."

"Indeed. Come on, the others are wondering. Caramon already came up looking for us while I was in the hallway." Raistlin looked back to the spot where Bexta had been standing. "And I think we should keep your little demon secret just that, a secret."

Delano sighed. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. Especially Sturm, if he shows up. He's liable to try and kill me. Hopefully we can have a quiet night of reminiscing and drinking. I'll bet Kitiara would get a kick out of it, though." They started walking towards the door.

"With Tanis hanging all over her? When would you find the time to show her?"

"You forget who you're talking to," Delano laughed.

"Do you still fancy her?" Raistlin asked in a serious tone.

Delano stopped at the door and looked at his old friend for a moment. "No, Ray, I don't. I made that abundantly clear years ago. That's the only reason Tanis even had a chance with her."

"I'm not sure she ever fully got over you," Raistlin said wistfully.

"Not my problem. She made her choices; she can live with 'em. Though," Delano laughed, "I would like to see if she learned any new tricks."

"How you can be so powerful and spend so much time thinking about sex is beyond me," the mage muttered shaking his head.

Delano grinned at his friend. "Magic and sex. The two greatest things in life."

"So you keep telling me."

"Oh, don't let Caramon say anything about me taking the Test once you decide to drop that bomb on the rest of them. And let me talk to Caramon about my powers. I'll tell him something safe that makes sense to him."

"Consider it done, as long as you don't summon one of your friends."

"Well, now that that's settled, let's go get some more wine." Delano cast a spell breaking the magical lock on the door. "Tika sure has turned out nicely. I wonder what her nipples look like."

Raistlin shook his head and smiled. Some things never change. "I believe Caramon fancies her."

"Oh?" Delano grabbed the door handle and laughed. "In that case, I'll leave her to him. He would never forgive me if I took _another_ girl from him." He opened the door and turned to wait on Raistlin. The red robe just shook his head as he walked out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally getting this story moving along. :)**

* * *

><p><strong><strong>A long uncomfortable silence fell over the companions at Flint's statement. They sat drinking their ale and picking at their food for long moments.

"Did she say why she couldn't come?" asked Caramon finally.

"Her duties to her new lord prevent her from coming," replied Tanis. "What new lord is she talking about, do you know?"

"I haven't seen her since the last time we were here, five years ago. She _is_ a mercenary. She must have sworn allegiance to another," said Caramon.

Tanis sighed. Of all of the companions scheduled to meet at the inn that night, she was the one he most wanted to see. For five years he had tried to logically push her out of his mind, but her dark eyes and crooked smile refused to be banished. He knew a relationship between them was bound to end in tragedy on his end. Even though he was only half elven, his life was still considerably longer than a human's. However, he was prepared to tell her that it didn't matter to him, that he wanted to be with her.

"Ah, finally. Here comes one that can tell you more," Flint spoke up.

Tanis turned to look at the door. "Sturm!"

Standing at the door was a sight very seldom seen in southern Krynn. It was a man dressed in full plate armor and chain mail. It was a Solamnic Knight, the symbol of the Order of the Rose on the breastplate. The Knights of Solamnia had fallen into ill favor in the north since the Cataclysm, and word of their corruption had drifted even this far south. Many in the inn turned to scowl at the knight, but one look into his calm, cold eyes caused all to hold their tongues. Disliked as they were, knights were well known for their prowess in battle.

Sturm held the door open for two people as they walked in. A tall man and a woman heavily cloaked in furs came in, the woman apparently muttering a word of thanks as the knight courtly bowed in a manner long forgotten in the modern world.

"Look at that, the gallant knight assisting the fair lady. I wonder where he found those two," Caramon said as he watched the three walk in.

"They're barbarians from the Plains. That's the dress of the Que-shu tribe," said Tas as he stood in his chair to wave Sturm over.

Sturm bowed once more to the two barbarians as they refused any more assistance, and walked over to the table where the rest of the companions sat. Nearing the table, he noticed that there were three faces missing. He raised an eyebrow at that. "We seem to be missing some people," he said as Tanis stood up and embraced him.

"Not some, just one," Tanis said as he sat back down, motioning for Sturm to have a seat.

"Who?"

"Kitiara," Tas said as he placed a mug of ale in front of Sturm. "She has a new lord that is keeping her busy."

"We were wondering if you could help us out with that." Tanis looked at Sturm expectantly.

"Not I. We parted ways after getting to Old Solamnia." Sturm thought for a moment. "She said she was going to look up relatives of her father. That was the last I saw of her. Where are Delano and Raistlin?"

"Upstairs talking," replied Caramon.

"They have both changed," Tanis added.

"For the better, I hope," said Sturm.

"Nope," growled Flint. "Speaking of those two, do they plan on coming back?"

"I'll go check on them," said Caramon as he stood up. He went over to the stairs and began climbing. He was gone maybe half a minute before he walked back down, his head held low. "They're still talking." Sturm frowned.

"Who are those two?" Tasslehoff asked as the barbarians walked by the table on their way to the two empty chairs by the fireplace.

"I found them wandering around outside of town. They appeared ready to collapse from exhaustion. I brought them here, telling them that they could get food and rest for the night. I think they would have refused my help had they not been so tired and lost. And," Sturm's face darkened, "there are things on the roads nowadays that are better not met after dark."

"We know. Goblins looking for a blue crystal staff. We were all stopped," Tanis said.

"I was too. But that seems minor compared to the rumors from the far north. Armies gathering of strange creatures not seen before on Krynn. Talk of war."

"War with whom, though? I've heard the same."

"So have I. In fact, I heard that—" Caramon began.

Tas turned from the conversation, bored. He looked over to the two barbarians. They were sitting next to the fire, listening to the old man spin his tales of the old gods. His crowd of children had grown too. There was another intently listening, a man in the brown and gold robes of the Seekers. The Seekers (seekers of the new gods) had come into prominence many years after the Cataclysm. The people wanted to believe in something, and the Seekers provided them with that something. The Seekers had become so well liked, that they soon took positions of political power and began governing.

"Are the stories of the old gods true, Old One?" a young boy asked.

"Yes, my child, they are. But don't just take my word for it. Ask these two over here. They carry the stories in their hearts." The old man pointed over to the two barbarians who looked alarmed at having attention drawn to them.

"Can you tell us a story, miss?" the young boy asked.

"I-I'm afraid I'm not a teller of tales. I have not the art," she said in thick accented Common.

"Ah, but you are a singer of songs, are you not Chieftain's Daughter? Sing us a song Goldmoon." At that, the old man produced a lute and handed it to her.

Goldmoon stared at the old man in astonishment. "H-How did you know my name?"

"That's not important. Sing us your song, Chieftain's Daughter, you know the one," the old man said, staring into her eyes.

Goldmoon began to sing, oblivious to the attention she received from the rest of the inn. She sang for the old man alone, her eyes never leaving his.

It was then that Delano and Raistlin walked downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, the two turned to watch Goldmoon sing. Like everyone else in the inn, Delano was fascinated by her beauty. Her face was beautiful, but it was her hair that captured the heart. It was like finely woven gold and silver strands falling below her shoulder blades. No artisan on Krynn could produce the look her hair had. It was truly one of the wonders of the world.

"Wow . . ." Delano whispered once the song was done.

Raistlin chuckled. "Not a chance, Delano. Look at the man sitting next to her."

"Since when has that ever stopped me before?"

"True. I advise against it, though."

"Why?"

"Just a hunch."

"Fine." Delano looked around for Tika, saw her, and motioned her over. "Might we have some more wine?" Delano smiled as he handed their glasses to her.

"Sure Delano." She smiled as she bounded off to the bar.

"You're going to sweep her off her feet without even trying if you're not careful."

"By asking for wine? I think you overestimate my abilities Ray."

"If you say so." Raistlin gestured at the table and they both began walking over to it. "Sturm is here." His dislike for the knight was evident in his tone. Sturm was leery of magic users in general, as were most knights, so he had suffered the friendship of the two. He was a great swordsman, however, so having him on your side in a fight was a blessing.

Sturm was involved with the conversation he, Tanis, Flint and Caramon were having, so he didn't notice the two young men approach the table. In fact, none of them did. When the two sat down, the other four companions seemed surprised that they were there. Tas had seen them walk down the stairs though. He watched them talk, order wine and make their way to the table. He really wanted to know how the conversation upstairs went, but he knew they wouldn't tell him. Their private conversations were always that, private. Sneaking up on two magic users was damn near impossible when they didn't want to be over heard.

"Greetings, knight," Raistlin said. Sturm looked over to him and his eyes widened. Raistlin grinned at that. He could at least enjoy surprising Sturm now that his shock over seeing Delano again was gone.

* * *

><p>Tasslehoff was not the only one who noticed the two young magic users walk down the stairs and move to sit at the large table. The old man in gray robes watched the two with unnoticed intensity as they sat down.<p>

"Well, at least you accepted him, Raistlin," the old man said into his mug as he took a sip. "This turn of events will be closely watched."

* * *

><p>"I'm amazed that you're wearing red and not black." Sturm proceeded to ignore Raistlin and looked to Delano. "Interesting choice of color Delano."<p>

The warlock took a sip of his wine and smiled at the knight. "You like? I really like the blue, adds character to the robes."

"They're predominately _black_."

"Don't worry. I'm not a black robed mage."

"Are you sure? Anyone seeing you from a distance is going to think so." Sturm's distaste for Delano's appearance was obvious in his tone.

"I believe that I would know whether or not I'm a black robe. Besides, anyone seeing _you_ from a distance would assume that you're a knight, though I doubt you went through the procedures of actually becoming one."

Sturm set down his mug, his face turning red with anger.

"Well," Tanis began, trying to diffuse the situation. "Is there an explanation forthcoming?" he asked Delano.

"He has a truly remarkable staff, Tanis," Raistlin said. "How powerful it is remains to be seen. It does, however, seem to be the source of his powers." The two friends had decided on their walk down to the table that the staff was the best explanation.

Delano turned to Caramon. "Okay midget minotaur, I have a present for you."

Caramon turned to look at Delano, as did the rest of the companions.

Delano produced the sword and laid it on the table in front of the large warrior. "This was not easy at all to acquire. It's enchanted. As long as your heart beats, this blade cannot be damaged, not even by dragon fire." He placed his hand on Caramon's shoulder and uttered a magical phrase. The blade began to glow and Caramon did the same. After a few seconds, the glows faded.

Caramon was stunned. He looked at the sword, then at Delano, then again at Raistlin. Raistlin nodded and Caramon picked up the sword. He stared at it for a moment, then pressed it against his breast. He looked over at Delano and said a heartfelt, "Thank you." He stood up and attached it to his person, noticing how easily it fit him. He sat back down and rested his hand on the hilt. This sword feels really good, he thought. "Does it have a name?"

"It does. It's called 'Permanence'. Treat it well and it will never let you down."

"May I see it?" Sturm asked. Caramon nodded, drew the sword and handed it to Sturm hilt first. The knight took the sword and stood up. He held it out at arm's length, testing the balance. He performed some small maneuvers with it and held it up to his face so he could see the sharpness of the dual edge. He flipped it over to look at the hilt. The guard had what looked to be a dragon claw on each end that curved up towards the tip, and the pommel had another claw sticking out the end. The entire sword was black, even the blade.

* * *

><p>The old man was getting ready to answer one of the children's questions when he noticed Sturm handling a black sword. He looked more closely at it and his eyes widened. He then looked over to Delano and studied his staff. His face grew sad as he shook his head and reached for his mug.<p>

"Dark days are ahead of us I fear," he muttered into his mug. "I never thought those two relics would ever see Krynn again."

"Do you know any more stories?" a girl asked him.

"Why, yes, I do. Have you heard the 'Canticle of the Dragon'?"

* * *

><p>"I must say Delano, that this is one of the finest one-handed swords I have ever seen." Sturm returned Permanence to Caramon. "Do you know what it's made of?"<p>

"I do not," replied the warlock. He did know, but he was not about to disclose that information.

"It's definitely not steel. It's too light. Where did you get it?"

"Same place I got my staff."

"Which is?"

"Which is a place I'm not going to talk about."

Sturm glared at Delano and the other companions exchanged uneasy glances; all except Raistlin and Tas. Raistlin was enjoying the discussion and Tasslehoff was listening to the old man. Sturm slowly sat down. "Did they come from the Abyss itself?"

Delano actually laughed at that. "Do you honestly think that I would be here right now had I found myself in the Abyss? There's no way Takhisis would have let me leave."

"Who ish thish Takhishish? I've heard shenough about falshe godsh tonight," came a slurred comment from an obviously drunk man in brown and gold robes standing near the companions' table.

"No one, Seeker," Delano assured him.

"Good," the Seeker exclaimed as he turned around to walk back to his chair. He got about halfway there when he overheard the old man talking about Paladine, the god of good. He turned to glare at the old man as he roared, "Blashphemy!"

The entire inn fell silent at the man's outburst. "Blashphemy!" He staggered towards the old man and the two barbarians, scattering the children that had gathered around to listen to the stories. "Call the guardsh! Arresht thish man for corrupting our young and arresht those two for shinging lewd shongsh," he shouted as he pointed at the barbarians. "Foul witch! I'll take that shtaff," he said as he clumsily grabbed for Goldmoon's staff.

Goldmoon moved the staff, easily avoiding the Seeker. "You will not. It is mine." Tired as she was, her eyes were cool and commanding.

"Fool! I'm High Theocrat Hederick, I take what I want," he barked at her while he clumsily grabbed for her staff again.

She easily avoided Hederick again as her tall companion stood up. "Chieftain's Daughter told you it was hers and you could not have it," he said as he lightly shoved the Seeker away. Had the Theocrat been sober, he would have only taken a step backwards. But, being as drunk as he was, he completely lost his balance and, arms flailing wildly, he staggered backwards a few steps before falling into the fireplace.

Hederick erupted into flames as his robes caught fire and began screeching in pain as everyone in the inn looked upon the scene in stunned silence. Tas was the only one who wasn't frozen in place and leapt out of his chair and ran towards the engulfed man. He stood there a little confused when he got there, though, since he had no idea how he was going to go about helping the wildly flailing man.

The old man grabbed the staff from Goldmoon and held it out to the kender, saying, "Here! Use the staff to knock him down so we can smother the flames."

Tas, looking thankfully at the old man, grabbed the staff, swung it as hard as he could and hit the burning man square in the back, knocking him to the ground. To the amazement of everyone in the inn, the staff flared a bright blue light and the flames disappeared. The injuries Hederick sustained healed themselves; even the burnt hair on the man's head grew back. Tas stared at the staff in astonishment, for it had turned to blue crystal.

"The staff healed him!" the old man yelled. "The staff! Look at the staff!"

Murmurs quickly started spreading throughout the inn. "There it is! The blue crystal staff! Now they'll leave us alone!"

The companions shot glances of surprise at each other. Delano and Raistlin were looking intently at the staff, which was slowly returning to its wooden form. Tas was still staring in wide-eyed wonder at the staff.

"Arrest them! Arrest the barbarians. Arrest this group at the large table. They came in with them!" The old man was pointing directly at the companions.

Delano and Tanis barked "_What_?" simultaneously, both bolting up from their seats. "What in the name of the Abyss is wrong with you old man?" exclaimed Tanis.

Hederick sat up and looked himself over. His hands and face were completely healed and as he felt the top of his head, he noticed all his hair was back. He looked over at Goldmoon in shock. "You healed me with evil! Witch! As I burn to cleanse myself of this evil, you, too, will burn at the stake to purify your soul!" At that, he rose to his feet and plunged his hand into the fire, cackling madly. He removed his burnt hand, looked at the barbarians satisfactorily, and walked out of the inn calling for the guards.

Tika ran over to the table where the companions were. "You've got to get out of here! The entire town's been looking for that staff. The hooded men told us they would burn Solace to the ground if we were found to be harboring it."

"It's not our staff!" Tanis exclaimed. Delano was glaring at the old man who had sat back in his chair, grinning.

"You think they'll believe you?" Tika pointed at the patrons in the inn. They were all eyeing the companions, reaching for their weapons.

Tanis couldn't believe what was happening. He looked over his friends and then looked at the barbarians, who were both standing, looks of fear in their faces. Why is this happening, the half-elf asked himself. All I wanted was to come here, eat some good food, reminisce about old times and tell Kitiara that I made up my mind: I wanted to be with her. Now, they were in danger of being arrested and possibly killed.

Tanis looked around the inn at the patrons, and heard footsteps and yelling coming up the stairs. "We'll need to go out through the kitchen."

The rest of the companions were standing up and gathering their belongings. Delano walked around the table and came to stand in front of the old man. Sturm remained seated calmly drinking his ale. Tanis turned to him.

"Sturm, we've got to go."

"Why? We've done nothing."

"They think we have. They'll gladly hand us over to the guards, and Hederick will see to it that we're punished." A thought occurred to him. "Besides, there's a lady to protect."

Sturm looked over to the barbarians and set down his mug. He got up and walked over to them. "It seems that you're in danger. Being strangers here, you don't know the area. We grew up here, we know the area well. I insist that you leave with us so that we may escort you to safety," he said as he bowed to her.

Goldmoon looked at her companion and nodded. He said a few words in their language, and she shook her head fiercely. He repeated what he said and she snapped a sharp comment. He frowned, then reluctantly nodded.

"Thank you for your kindness, knight," she told Sturm. He escorted the barbarians to the kitchen. The rest of the companions followed, save for Tanis and Delano.

Delano stood in front of the old man. "You did that on purpose."

"Now is not the time, Delano Baeron. You must leave quickly." He smiled at the warlock and winked.

Tanis grabbed Delano's arm. "Come on, we need to leave. We'll figure this out later."

"Fine. Next time I see you old man, we're going to have a chat." He turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen.

Tanis glanced at the old man, who winked at him. "Hurry, Tanis Half-Elven, your flock needs you." Tanis stared at the old man for a moment, then went to the kitchen.

The old man watched as they all filed into the kitchen. "We will have a chat, Delano my child, though it won't go the way you think it will." He finished his ale, set down the mug, and walked out the front door of the inn.

* * *

><p>The rest of the companions were gathered around a hole in the floor with a rope going through it in the back of the kitchen when Tanis and Delano finally rejoined them.<p>

"That old man knows something, Tanis." Delano was obviously not very happy about leaving before he could drill the old man in gray for some answers.

"What would you have us do? Barricade ourselves in the kitchen while you talk to him? We have to leave _now_, before the guards get to the bottom of this rope. We don't have time for anything other than running."

Sturm was looking at them impatiently. "Are you two done arguing? Can we go now?"

Tasslehoff and Flint were already on the ground forty feet below. Goldmoon and her companion were in the process of climbing down the rope. Sturm was standing guard with his sword drawn while the remainder of the group waited their turn.

Tika ran in the kitchen and stopped behind Delano. She placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Go to my house, they won't think to look for you there."

"I don't know which one is yours," Delano replied.

"Tas does. Just tell him I said you could use my house for the night." She then turned and ran back out into the main room.

"How does he know—" Delano began as he turned his head to look at her before realizing she was already gone. He shook his head.

Caramon looked at the hole in the floor and the rope and turned to his brother. "How are you going to get down? I guess you could get on my back."

Raistlin glared at him. "I can get down myself," he hissed. Before anyone knew what he was doing, the mage jumped into the hole. Peering through the hole, Raistlin could be seen slowly floating down to the ground, the crystal on his staff glowing brightly. Caramon turned to look at Delano.

The warlock shrugged. "Don't look at me. I didn't know his staff could do that." And what a wonderful staff it is, thought Delano. I wonder what else it can do.

Caramon turned back to the rope and began climbing down.

"I'll stand guard 'til everyone is down," Sturm told the remaining two companions. Delano nodded, attached his staff to the brace on the back of his cloak and began climbing down after Caramon. Watching Delano, Tanis turned to Sturm.

"Well, old friend, we seem to be unable to avoid trouble. So much for a calm and entertaining evening."

Sturm flashed one of his rare smiles. "Welcome home, friend."

Tanis smiled back and gripped the rope just as Delano reached the ground. He got about halfway down before losing his grip and sliding the remaining twenty feet to the ground. His palms were rubbed raw by the rope.

Delano located Tasslehoff and quickly walked over to him. "Tika said we could use her house and that you knew where it was."

The kender looked up at the warlock brightly. "I do. Follow me."

The entire group now down at the base of the vallenwood, they proceeded to follow the kender. Moving quickly, Tasslehoff soon got the rest of the companions lost. All they could do was keep sight of him and hope he knew where he was going. They eventually reached the base of a tree Tas claimed to hold Tika's house. A rope ladder was hanging down from the walkway passing in front of Tika's front door and Tas quickly climbed up to see if the coast was clear. He got to the top, looked around for a second, and waved the rest up.

They all climbed up as quickly as possible (everyone behind Raistlin cursing to themselves as he slowly made the agonizing climb) and huddled around the door as Tas produced a lock pick kit and went to work opening the door. A few seconds later and the lock was sprung. Tas walked in and turned to face them.

"Please, come in," Tas said with a huge grin on his face, playing host. They filed in the small house and dispersed themselves around the room. Delano went to stand by the window so he could watch the walkways for any guards. Raistlin went to a chair near the fireplace and sat down, breathing heavily after the climb. The rest either took a seat in one of the few chairs or sat on the floor.

Tanis looked at Delano, but the warlock wasn't paying attention, so he walked over to Raistlin. "Well? What do you think?"

Raistlin looked up at the half-elf and shrugged. "If she's a charlatan, she's a damn good one."

Goldmoon's companion stood up and made to advance on the mage. "You dare call Chieftain's Daughter a charlatan?"

A low grumble emitted from Caramon's chest as he began to rise behind his brother. Goldmoon placed a hand on her companion's arm and held him fast. "No, Riverwind. They have a right to be suspicious. They do not know us." Caramon remained standing but Riverwind stepped back and sat back down next to Goldmoon.

"That staff healed that man. I've never in all my years seen healing that complete. She's no charlatan, though I doubt she knows how it happened," Delano spoke from the window.

Goldmoon looked over at Delano. He was still looking out the window so all she could see was his back. "I honestly don't know. I have had the staff for less than a day."

"Might I examine it?" Raistlin asked as he held out his hand. Goldmoon nodded and handed the staff to him. As soon as it touched his hand, Raistlin gasped in pain as the staff flared blue and the mage let it fall to the floor. Caramon took a step towards the barbarians. Raistlin grabbed his brother's hand and held him back.

"No, brother, she had no part in that."

"Then what happened? The staff damages as well as heals?" Flint asked.

"No, it merely knows its own. Caramon, take the staff."

"No way," said the warrior as he backed into the wall behind him.

"Take the staff!" Raistlin hissed at his brother.

"Caramon, grab the staff. If it hurts you, I will cut off one of my toes," Delano said without turning to the room.

Nearly everyone stared at Delano in shock. Raistlin looked over at him in amusement. After staring at the warlock for a moment, Caramon tentatively stepped forward and reached out for the staff. As his fingers neared it, he closed his eyes in anticipation of pain. Once he closed his hand around it, he opened his eyes and grinned. He lifted it up and held it for everyone to see, then handed it back to Goldmoon.

"I must be getting old," Flint grumbled. "Why didn't it hurt Caramon?"

"Only those pure in heart may wield it. The damage it does seems to be a defense mechanism against those of opposite alignment wielding it. It truly seems to be a sacred staff of healing, blessed by some god. No magical items I know of have healing powers."

Delano chuckled. "That new voice of yours is perfect for your sarcasm, Ray."

Sturm spoke up. "Why don't you try to pick it up then, Delano?"

"I think not."

"Why not? Afraid it's going to hurt you too?"

"Hush," Delano hissed. "Guards." He stepped out of the window and leaned against the wall.

The guards could be heard now, walking down the walkways and knocking on doors.

"How many?" Tanis asked.

"Two goblins," Delano replied.

Tanis looked over to the door and noticed that it was not fully closed. I thought we closed and latched the door, Tanis thought. "Caramon, the door," he hissed.

Caramon was already moving towards the door and went to stand behind it. The goblins were getting closer and they heard them knocking on the door of the house next door.

"Open up in the name of the Theocrat." The goblin tried the door. "It's locked. No one home." The two turned and walked towards Tika's house. All of the companions melted as best they could into the shadows, save Raistlin. He merely sat in the chair by the fireplace, in full view of the front door with his staff leaning against his shoulder.

The goblins reached the door and knocked, preparing to demand entry. Instead of their fists meeting resistance, the door simply swung open, revealing Raistlin sitting by the fireplace.

"Oh ho! What do we have here? It's a staff." The two goblins took a few steps into the house. "Hand me that staff or I'll call for more guards," the first goblin said.

"Certainly," replied Raistlin as he held out his staff. The goblin reached for the staff and Raistlin spoke. "Shirak." The crystal at the top of the staff flared a white light, blinding the two goblins for a moment. Caramon came from behind the door, grabbed the heads of the two goblins and smashed them together. The goblins fell in a heap on the floor.

"Are they dead?" Delano asked as Caramon bent down to check.

The big man sighed. "Yeah, I hit them too hard."

"Well, we can't stay here now," Delano said as he moved away from the wall he was leaning against.

"No, we can't." Tanis looked down at the goblins. "When these two don't report back, every goblin in Solace will be up here looking for them."

"What now?" asked Flint.

Delano motioned Tas over to him. "See if there's any food here. I didn't get a chance to eat anything at the inn."

Tasslehoff smiled up at him. "Sure thing Delano." Tas then went bounding into the kitchen rummaging through the drawers and cabinets, stuffing whatever he could find into his numerous pouches.

Tanis looked everyone over. Well, he thought to himself, what now? We can't stay here, and we can't leave Tika's house like this, she'll get in trouble. And where are we going to go? It's night and every goblin around is going to be looking for us. There's too many of us to simply hide in waiting. We have to leave Solace. He turned to the barbarians. "Where we you headed?"

Riverwind looked at him. "Haven," he said reluctantly.

"We heard there were wise men in Haven that might know something of the staff," Goldmoon added.

Delano snorted. "Doubtful."

Tanis glared at the warlock. Delano shrugged and went to go check on Tas. Tanis thought for a moment then seemed to come to a conclusion. "How about we head north. We'll go with you as far as the crossroads, then we can make a decision on where to head next. You two can turn southwest and head for Haven. I'm inclined to go with you, as I'm curious about the staff myself." The half-elf looked around at everyone. "Everyone okay with that?" They all nodded in agreement. "Okay." Tanis's mind was working quickly. "We can't leave Tika's house like this. We need to turn some tables and chairs over and hack up the door, make it look like we broke in here and the goblins found us. Caramon, make it look like the goblins died in a fight." Everyone got busy making it look like a vicious battle happened in the small room.

Goldmoon came over to Tanis and placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you. You are helping us and we're strangers."

Tanis looked at her and smiled. "My name is Tanis. The brothers are Raistlin and Caramon. The kender is Tasslehoff and the dwarf is Flint. The knight is Sturm and the one in black and blue is Delano. You're Goldmoon and he's Riverwind. There, we are strangers no longer."

She smiled back at him. Looking down at the half-elf's hands, she frowned. She grabbed both his hands and pulled them out away from his body. She then took her staff and laid it across his hands. The staff glowed blue and Tanis could see the blood disappear and the wounds close with a tingling sensation. The tingling disappeared after the wounds were healed and took the pain with them. He looked down in awe.

"So, there is still true healing in the world," he said as he looked up into her eyes.

"It would seem so, though I can't for the life of me understand why this staff came to me." She smiled again at him and turned to walk over to Riverwind.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry about the long hiatus. I contracted the disease known as Skyrim. Don't worry, I'm cured now lol. Anywho, back to our quasi-regularly scheduled program.**

**I'm having a blast writing this. I hope it's fun to read. **

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><p>Tanis was the last one back down the rope ladder they previously used to get to Tika's house. He stood there for a moment looking over everyone to make sure they were all there. Once certain all were accounted for, he motioned Tas over.<p>

"We can't use any of the roads and we can't simply stay in the woods 'til dawn. We'll have to use the forest for cover while we move," he whispered to the kender. "Any suggestions on where to go for the night?"

Tasslehoff thought for a moment, then looked up gaily at Tanis. "There are caves on the other side of Crystalmir Lake we can use for the night. Most don't know they even exist and our walking time tomorrow would be cut by a few hours."

"And how, exactly, are we going to cross the lake? We don't have a boat."

"Not a problem," replied Tas as he flashed a mischievous smile. "Just follow me."

Tanis nodded and motioned for the group to gather around him. "We're going to head through the forest to look for a place to camp for the night. Follow Tasslehoff and try to move quickly and quietly." He hoped the guards would be too busy looking around the town to already have patrols in the forest. It was a long shot, but he hoped it would be true.

Tasslehoff headed off through the forest seemingly without direction until the companions started to notice the faint path he was following. It was more of a game trail than a path, but it did follow animal logic. Twisting and turning around trees, it was headed in the same general direction the entire time.

Tanis and Sturm were at the back of the line, following the rest.

"Where are we going?" the knight asked.

"Crystalmir Lake," replied Tanis.

"And what are we going to do once there?"

"Cross the lake to the caves on the other side."

Sturm frowned. "Where are we going to get a boat?"

"Do you really want to know? Don't—" Tanis began. He heard a laugh behind him.

"Are you serious? Do you know what it's going to take to get Flint in a boat?" Delano walked behind the two, looking at them incredulously.

"Delano, we can handle this," Tanis shot over his shoulder.

Sturm looked at the young man. "Why do you even have an opinion?"

"You can't be serious," Delano began. "Flint will explode with indignation if you even mention the fact that he'll have to ride in a boat."

Sturm looked over to Tanis. "He's right, Tanis. You didn't see him after Caramon almost drowned him. He won't get in the boat."

"I'll talk to him," Tanis replied.

Delano laughed. "Can I be there to see the conversation?"

Tanis looked at the young warlock. "No."

Delano looked at the half-elf for a moment. "Fine. Suit yourself. Diplomatic as you are, you aren't _that_ good. Have fun." At that, Delano walked forward to catch up with Raistlin.

Sturm watched Delano walk away and turned to Tanis. "I like him even less now, Tanis, but I agree with him. You weren't there; you didn't see Flint when we dragged him out of the water. He took a vow that he would never get in a boat again."

"Let me talk to him," the half-elf said.

Sturm grunted. "Fine. Be my guest. It's on you." Sturm watched the young warlock catch up to Raistlin. "I don't trust those two," he muttered. At that, he turned and walked up to catch the rest of the group.

They walked for awhile until Tas called for a halt and ran back to Tanis.

"Follow that path for another mile and wait in the treeline near the shore. I'll come get you." Flashing Tanis a grin, Tas ran off into the trees.

The group began moving towards the lake. Tanis realized that Tasslehoff was enjoying himself and he considered pulling him aside. He shook his head as soon as he thought about it. It didn't make a difference how much danger they were in, Tas would find it exciting. Kender were completely immune to fear; in fact, many on Krynn began changing the saying "curiosity killed the cat" to "curiosity killed the kender." Tanis cracked a small smile before snapping to attention at the sounds of goblin search parties. Damn, he swore to himself. I was hoping it would take them longer.

"Hurry! They're in the forest now!" he called up the line of companions. Sturm glanced back and, seeing the faint lights of torches, nodded. He began herding the group faster along the trail as Tanis ran to catch up with everyone.

They came to a stop at the treeline overlooking twenty yards or so of tall grasses and a few yards of sand meeting the edge of the water. In front of them stretched the vastness of Crystalmir Lake. The crescent moon Lunitari shown over the water and gave it a deep crimson shade. Tanis stood looking out over the water searching for Tas.

"Why are we at a lake?" Flint grumbled. "I thought we were gonna hide out in the woods. And where's that blasted kender?"

Tanis looked over at the dwarf before scanning the beach looking for Tasslehoff. "We're crossing this lake, old friend. Tas is providing us with transportation. He should be here soon, if he's not already."

"_Cross_?" Flint spat. "Nope. Not getting in a boat. I'll take my chances with the Theocrat."

Tanis sighed. "That was ten years ago, Flint. We don't have another choice. Tas said there're caves on the other side of this lake that we can spend the night in and cut our travel time tomorrow. It's the best option we have." Just then, Tanis caught sight of a boat on the water. It moved about as if whoever was in the boat was looking for something. "There he is," the half-elf said as he reached down for one of the rocks by his feet. He heaved it and it landed a few yards from shore. The boat turned and came straight for where the rock landed.

"A dingy? You're planning on putting all of us in a _dingy_?" Flint sat down. "No way. I took a vow. Not getting in that boat."

Tanis began to turn to say something to the dwarf as the white full moon Solinari rose up behind its red counterpart. The beach lit up and the water turned to molten silver. The boat and the kender rowing were perfectly visible.

"Perfect," remarked Sturm irritably. "What wonderful targets we're going to make."

"We don't have a choice. Let's hurry," said Tanis as he moved towards the boat to help Tas bring it to shore. Caramon and Sturm followed.

Delano turned to Raistlin. "You don't happen to know any weather spells by chance, do you?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"No," the warlock sighed. "My knowledge of this magic hasn't progressed that far yet." He looked up at the two moons for a second, then turned to watch Tas and company drag the boat up on the beach and turn it around. "Come on, let's go. I want to sit at the front of the boat. Arrows pierce robes far better than what the rest of the group is wearing."

Raistlin nodded. "Good point."

The two magi moved ahead of the group and climbed in the boat, with a little help from the overprotective Caramon. They made their way to the bow and sat down. Goldmoon was next into the boat and flashed a tentative smile at the two magi before taking her seat next to them. Sturm and the large warrior then nonchalantly helped Riverwind, who was too exhausted to protest the help, into the boat. He spared an untrusting glance at the two robed ones before sitting down next to Goldmoon.

Sturm looked up at the night sky before turning his head to look back over the shore. He could see Tanis and Flint arguing plain as day. Why did Solinari have to be so full tonight? Sturm thought. Just one break was all they needed, one cloud to cover the silver moon. He saw the two shake hands and Tanis turn to run towards the boat just as a multitude of torches appeared at the tree line. Damn, Sturm swore.

"Tanis! _Move_!" Sturm hopped in the boat with ease as Caramon steadied it. He could see the torches start to descend upon the tall grasses, bouncing excitedly.

Tanis swung himself up into the boat as Caramon asked about Flint. "He's not coming. He's—" a snort from Delano caused him to pause for a split second before continuing. "He's going to hide out in the hills." An arrow struck against the shield Caramon had across his back before Tanis could say anything more. Swearing under his breath, the half-elf stood up in the boat and unslung his bow from his back. With his elven night vision, he was the only one that could accurately see the goblins through the torchlight. "I'll hold 'em off 'til we're out of their range. Get in the boat Caramon. Tas, _pull_!"

Tanis let loose an arrow that hit its mark as Tas struggled violently to move the boat. He made a valiant effort, but was simply too small to row the boat with all the added weight. After an oar came dangerously close to hitting Goldmoon in the head, Sturm plucked Tas up and moved him aside as he himself sat down and grabbed the oars. Just as he was about to move the boat away from shore, a cry of "_Wait!_" could be heard coming from the beach. They all looked and saw Flint running towards the boat.

"I'm coming!" It would have been comical had the situation not been so dire. Flint was charging ahead with one hand holding his helmet on his head, his other arm flailing wildly. Tanis felled four more goblins while Flint made his way to the waterline. Instead of reaching the waterline and jumping to the boat, Flint's feet hit the water and disappeared, causing the old dwarf to pitch forward and smack the water's surface face first. Caramon immediately hopped out the boat, fumbled around in the water for a bit and brought up a panicked, flailing and soggy dwarf. Throwing Flint into the boat, the warrior climbed over the side and sat down as he yelled "_Go!_" at Sturm.

The knight pulled on the oars with all his might, and the boat shot away from the shore. Dozens of arrows landed just short of the boat as it pulled away. Tanis let loose a few more arrows before turning to Sturm. "There's too many for me to hold off. We must hurry." Sturm glared at him as he pumped the oars as fast as he could. Another barrage of arrows landed around the boat, with a few bouncing off of the knight's armor and sticking in Caramon's chain mail.

"This is ridiculous," muttered Delano. His remark caused most in the boat to stare at him. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to say something when he noticed Raistlin standing up, his right hand reaching for one of his spell component pouches.

Tanis noticed too, and lunged at the red robe to grab him and pull him down. Standing up in a boat without armor while arrows are flying around is not a good idea. Tanis's hand closed around a fold in Raistlin's robes and pulled down just as the young mage was speaking in the language of magic. Raistlin's eyes snapped open at the sudden jerk and he dropped the sand he had in his right hand. Furious, he looked down at the half-elf to admonish him, but paused when he noticed that everyone in the boat was motionless. Puzzled, he reached down and touched Tanis on the arm – nothing.

"I put them to sleep instead. Dammit Tanis."

"They're not asleep. Look at their eyes, they're paralyzed." Delano reached over and touched Goldmoon on the head. Delano, being behind Raistlin at the moment of casting, was spared. "I would be impressed if not for the backfire."

"I don't know that spell yet."

"You do now," the warlock grinned. "I was not aware that sleep and paralysis were so close in structure. I guess it's too much to ask for you to try casting sleep again."

"You know it is. I don't suppose you know sleep, do you?"

"I don't know any crowd control spells yet."

"I hope you know _something_ that might help. Without actually knowing the paralysis spell, I have no idea how long it lasts." Another barrage of arrows fell around the now stationary boat. "We can't sit here like this."

Delano thought for a moment. Damn, what can I do? He looked at the shore to gauge the distance. It might be in range, he thought. Seemingly out of nowhere, a new spell popped into his head. That just might work, though I might not have the strength . . .

"Any ideas? We're running out of time." Raistlin was the master at hiding his emotions, but Delano detected a bit of worry in his friend's voice.

"Okay. This is a long shot, but I don't know what else to do. You're going to have to row the boat." Raistlin looked at him in shock. "I have spells to cast; otherwise I'd do the rowing. So, unless you have another crowd control spell up your sleeve, you're stuck with the oars."

Raistlin had to admit, Delano's logic was sound. However, he knew his own physical limitations and knew that he might not be able to make it to the opposite shore. "It will probably take all night, if I can even get us all the way there."

"Oh, it gets worse. I don't know if I have the strength to do what I'm about to do. If I pass out, I need you to keep me from falling overboard."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm afraid I am. Let's just hope a miscast paralysis spell doesn't last very long. Otherwise, we might be spending the night in the middle of the lake." The warlock looked down at Tanis, whose head froze in a position where he could clearly see Delano and Raistlin. "Tanis, I thought you knew better than that." Just then, another barrage of arrows landed in and around the boat, though miraculously no one in the boat got hit. Who is looking out for us? Delano wondered.

Delano moved toward the stern of the boat while Raistlin struggled to move Sturm and sit down. Finally realizing there was no way he was moving the armored knight on his own, he paused to think. He looked to Delano for help, but the warlock was positioning himself to cast whatever he had planned. An idea came to him and he smiled. Not only would it alleviate the problem of moving the knight, it would also make Sturm very uncomfortable. Raistlin relished in the thought and turned to look the knight in the eyes. Stealing a phrase from Delano, he looked Sturm square in the eyes and said, "Now don't get too comfortable, we're not having a moment." He could see the knight's eyes harden in anger, apparently guessing as to what Raistlin was about to do. Grinning, he turned around and sat down in the knight's lap. He managed to pry the oars out of Sturm's hands and began his meager attempt at rowing an overcrowded boat.

Delano stood in front of Raistlin and prepared to do something he has never done before. As an afterthought, he removed his staff from the brace on his cloak and set it down in the boat. If he passed out and fell back on his friend, the staff would be a major obstacle. Turning to look at the sets of eyes that could see him, he nodded and said, "If this works, I'm going to be immensely surprised." Looks of fear shown in those sets of eyes. Nothing I can do about that now, he thought. Damn Tanis and his good intentions. Sometimes good intentions can get you killed.

Another barrage of arrows landed around the boat, this time one imbedding itself in Riverwind's shoulder. I hope it's not poisoned, thought Delano. That's the last thing we need. Turning to face the beach, where all the goblins had congregated, the warlock slipped into that familiar spell-casting trance that he loved so much. The anticipation of the magic was almost as euphoric as the magic itself. Bringing his hands together, he began to mutter in a language of magic not heard on Krynn in thousands of years. His eyes began to glow blue and soon his hands matched that glow. A translucent blue bubble began to form around Delano, and slowly the bubble expanded. It grew in bursts until it surrounded the entire boat. As soon as the bubble steadied itself at that size, another barrage of arrows came raining down. This time, though, they all bounced harmlessly off the bubble.

Raistlin nearly stopped rowing. What an amazing spell, he thought.

Delano himself smiled at the outcome. He paused for a moment and looked around, his left hand still clenched in a blue glow. Wow, he thought. It actually worked. The trick is to keep this thing up while I cast my next spell. He frowned. I can already feel the drain. Why do new spells always drain me so? He shook his head to banish the thought. Well, no turning back now. He raised his right hand and began to call forth the next spell. His eyes changed their glow from blue, to purple, to red. His right hand glowed red as well. Another barrage of arrows bounced harmlessly off the bubble as he pointed at the beach.

The head of the goblin at the far end of the formation burst into flames. As Delano slowly moved his right hand along the formation, head after head burst into flames and melted in upon themselves. A cacophony of screams filled the air and wafted over the companions in the boat. Tears flooded Goldmoon's eyes and even Tanis had a few tears running down his cheeks, for the screams were not just the screams of the dying – they were the screams of souls in pain.

One by one, the headless goblin corpses fell to the ground. Delano began to waver on his feet as he slowly completed the arc his hand was moving through. Must finish, he thought as more arrows bounced off the bubble. He could sense the blackness closing around his vision and knew he was going to pass out soon. He clenched his jaw with extreme effort trying to call up all the strength he had left. Almost . . . done. Just, a few . . . more.

Raistlin looked at the beach between strokes. There were only a few goblins left and the ones in the tall grass and tree line were beginning to run away. He looked to the warlock and saw that his friend was about to collapse, noticeably swaying like a drunk at closing time. He could see the jaw clenched tight and knew that consciousness was rapidly leaving. He made one more stroke and looked at the beach again. The last goblin hit the ground and the screams subsided. The glows around Delano's hands faded and he began to fall. Raistlin released the oars and stood up to try and guide him down instead of catching him. He wasn't sure that he _could_ catch his friend while sitting down.

Raistlin did his best to lay his friend down gently. He somewhat managed it, apologizing to Tas and Flint that since his own strength was waning, he couldn't go about moving everyone, so they would have to be at peace with Delano lying across them. He double checked the young warlock, making sure there was a pulse running through his body and breath filling his lungs. Satisfied that his childhood friend was alive, at least in body, he reclaimed his seat in Sturm's lap. He no longer found his seating arrangement humorous; now realizing that sitting on plate mail was painfully uncomfortable.

He panicked as he recalled what he did with the oars when Delano collapsed. Glancing around, he saw the oars. Sturm's frozen outstretched arms had caught them when Raistlin let them go. The mage had to suppress a chuckle at that. Leave it to Sturm to be helpful even when incapacitated. He retrieved the oars and began the slow, arduous journey towards the opposite shore.

He let his mind wander as he reached a constant speed he felt he could maintain.

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><p>Raistlin let out a sigh of relief when he felt the boat run aground. It turned out that Solinari was a blessing. He never would have been able to navigate the rocks surrounding the shore without the moon's bright light. But now, he was exhausted. He couldn't remember the last time he was so physically worn out. And now, a breeze had developed, bringing clouds. It would rain soon, and on a chilly night like tonight, that could cause problems. Especially since he was far too tired to drag everyone into a cave – assuming he found one. Never setting foot on this shore before in his life, he hadn't the slightest idea of what Tas was talking about.<p>

Signs of movement began emerging from the previously paralyzed members of the group. Tasslehoff was the first one to regain the use of his mouth.

"Raistlin, that was impressive. I honestly did not believe you would get us all the way. Outstanding work. But, Delano! How did he make that bubble? Umm, speaking of him, would you mind helping me?"

Raistlin moved over to retrieve Tas from under the warlock's legs. To be honest, it felt good to stand up and be off of the plate mail. The rest of the companions began groaning and stretching.

"Was that really necessary?" Sturm snapped.

"You were too heavy for me to move."

"Confound it Raistlin!" Flint growled. "I'm not a bench!"

Raistlin was getting irritated. After everything that'd happened that night, the last thing he was going to stand for was being yelled at. He began to say something, but Tanis cut in.

"Easy old friend. There wasn't anywhere else to lay him down."

"How would you know? You were looking the other way," Flint grumbled.

"I can see now, though. I probably would have put him there myself. Tas, can you go and find those caves you were talking about? None of us even knew they were here." The kender nodded and hopped out of the boat. "Come on Caramon," Tanis began, "let's get Delano—"

"I got him," Caramon said. The warrior got out of the boat and went to the side next to the warlock. "Just help me get him off Flint and on my shoulder."

Tanis shrugged and moved over to help lift Delano off of Flint and out of the boat while Raistlin climbed out himself. He grabbed his and Delano's staff and walked in the direction Tas went. With the warlock squarely on Caramon's shoulders, the warrior followed behind his brother. Tanis got Flint to his feet and helped him out of the boat. They walked over to where the rest of the companions stood.

Sturm and Goldmoon were removing the arrow from Riverwind's shoulder. Once they got the arrow out, with some grunted protests from the plainsman, Goldmoon used the staff and healed the wound. When she was done, she turned to face Tanis.

"What did I just witness? I've never felt more sorrow for a dying creature in all my life. Those screams will haunt my dreams for many moons to come." She turned her head to watch Caramon walk into a cave. "He scares me. How did he burn just the heads of over forty goblins in the span of a few seconds?"

"He is magi. And if you noticed, he used every ounce of strength he had. That's why he's unconscious now," Tanis told her.

"Or, he used magic he wasn't supposed to," Sturm said. "If I could feel it, then I know you could, being part elf. Elves revere all life. Those screams had to be especially powerful to you."

"Look, we all know mages have to rest before they can use magic," Tanis countered. "It saps their strength. When they become exhausted, they can no longer cast spells, and some have been known to collapse from the effort."

"How can you be sure?" Riverwind asked.

"I can understand the apprehension you two have," he told the plainsmen. "But the rest of you?" he said as he turned to Sturm and Flint. "How long have we known Delano and Raistlin? You should understand at least some of this."

"Take away the screaming and I understand perfectly," replied Sturm.

Flint looked around the group for a moment, grateful that he had something else to focus on other than the boat and lake. "Why don't we just call it a night and talk to Delano about it when he wakes up? Standing here arguing out in the open when it's getting ready to rain isn't my idea of a good night. And aren't we supposed to be hiding?"

"I don't like this, Tanis," Sturm said.

"I don't either," Riverwind added.

"I don't know . . .," Goldmoon began.

"I'm sure you all appreciate being alive," came a voice from down the shore that none of them heard approach. "You're welcome, as Delano is fond of saying."

"Maybe you can explain what happened," shot Sturm.

Raistlin took a few more steps forward. "Certainly. I was about to put the goblins to sleep when Tanis interrupted my spell and caused me to miscast it." Tanis looked down at the ground. "Miscast spells are impossible to predict. We were lucky it just paralyzed all of you. Having no other options available, Delano risked himself in order to save us. He is lying in there comatose because he had to use every last ounce of strength he had to ensure our safety. I hope he wakes up in the morning. There have been cases of mages sleeping for days. Instead of demonizing him, you should be thanking him."

"We can't stay here for days—," Tanis began.

"I agree. We dare not. Have any of you looked to the sky now that the clouds are dimming Solinari's light?" asked Raistlin.

They all looked up and Goldmoon gasped. She leaned against Riverwind's chest and pointed to the sky, her eyes wide with fear. "A constellation is missing!"

"Two, actually. One called Queen of Darkness and one called Valiant Warrior. Bad luck indeed, dwarf. Rumors of evil growing in the world are true. Death, destruction, war, oppression." Raistlin looked up and watched the clouds swarm the sky, blotting out stars in their path. Looking back to the group, he gazed upon all of them, making eye contact with each one in turn. "She has come to Krynn, and he has come to fight her."

With that, Raistlin turned and walked back to the cave, leaving the companions to trade long looks with each other. After a few minutes, Flint had had enough.

"Well, _I'm_ going in the cave. Tas has a fire going and I'm still wet. Spend the night out here if y'all want to." Flint marched to the cave and could be heard talking to Tas and regretting it. Jokes about an old sea dog could barely be heard drifting down the shore. At least Tas can find some humor in all of this, Tanis thought.

"He's right. Come on, we need to hide this boat, cover our tracks, set up watch, and find a way to hide that cave entrance. Standing out here in the rain will do none of us any good."

No matter what emotions were flying around, all could agree that that was, at least, the most logical thing to do in the situation. So, they secured the campsite and piled into the cave for a much needed rest.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Finding the time to write this has proved challenging. I'm not even sure what the term "spare time" actually means anymore. Here's a little bit of what I'm going with. Have any of you writers out there had this happen? You begin writing something, but through the process of writing, the story takes unexpected turns. Well, that has happened in this story.  
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**Edit: I really need to stop posting shit when drunk. Sigh. This is only half a chapter and as is wasn't even ready to post. Screw it, I'll leave it anyway. Just means the next chapter is going to be huge.  
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She had forgotten what this feeling felt like until very recently. She had actually gotten used to being here full time. And she was sorry for that; which was weird, since "sorrow" was a concept her existence had not known in what seemed like eons since she lost her sister. She frowned. That was not something she liked to think about. It was a sore spot in her psyche that had all but healed – until five years ago. No one knew that she still felt betrayed by her sister, nor was she going to let them guess at it. She had planned far too long for this chance, and nothing was going to get in the way. A chance like this was far too rare to let something so asinine, so insignificant ruin it. She flashed her distinctive grin and began walking.

The feeling that flowed into her as she materialized was not sorrow of any kind, but the sensation of entering this particular plane of existence. Bexta came to an intersection and paused, leaning against the (wall?). She took a breath and looked over the sight that was embedding itself onto her visual cortex. The now dubbed "Demon Plane" was a sight that most could not describe, and none wanted to see. It wasn't disgusting or horrific in any sense that could be understood by mortals; even immortals wouldn't describe it in that way. Bexta had travelled through numerous different planes, including all the ones the Krynnish Pantheon spread into. She had even visited a few of the ones on the other side of reality, where Hiddukel, among others, credits his spawning. And, of course, her own home plane, which many of the scattered groups of gods would prefer to forget about, if only to forget that they had a part in stealing it from the demons.

Of all the planes out there, the one in which her kind currently resides is the only one that behaves the way it does. All the other planes were magnificent in their own rights. Some were full of light and wonderful sights; others were dark and captivatingly horrific. She would even prefer the emptiness of the Abyss to where she now stood. There's a reason Delano was barely able to wrap his mind around what he was seeing when he first entered five years ago; mortal eyes and minds were never meant to gaze upon this scene. If she hadn't shielded him initially, his mind and maybe even his soul would have unraveled and dissipated into nothingness, like smoke in the wind. What made this plane so unorthodox was that reality seemed to break down and reform itself continuously. Calling something a wall or floor or ceiling was difficult, since by the time a general idea of what those terms meant formed itself, it was being broken down again.

"You're doing it again," a voice called out.

She jumped at the sound and spun around to see where it came from. Noticing Zangthyk standing there, she relaxed. She leaned back against the wall that was not a wall and glared down at her closest acquaintance. "Friend" was not really a term immortals used. It just didn't carry the same meaning for them as it did for mortals. "Doing what again?" she asked.

"Zoning out. It's becoming a common occurrence. Others are starting to notice. Even Aziszebah mentioned it to me in passing."

Bexta scoffed at that. "I don't give a _damn_ what he thinks. Who is he to question me or my behavior?"

Zangthyk looked at her. "He's the head of our kind," Zangthyk said in a tone reminiscent of a father patiently explaining something simple to a daughter who should know better. "The others follow his lead, you know this." He cocked his head to the side and regarded her for a moment. "What's going on with you? You used to tell me everything."

Bexta pushed off the (wall?) and turned to square up with Zangthyk. "Now listen here—" she began before a sensation buzzed through her mind. "Oh, no. Del!" She stepped past the kender-sized demon and ran down the (hallway?), the tip of her tail barely missing his face. This startled Zangthyk and he spun around to see where she was going.

"What about Delano? Where are you going? Bexta!" He chased after her. He rounded a (corner?) and came to a stop near her. He noticed that they were standing at the locked entrance/exit to the plane they were in. "Bexta, why are you here?"

"Shut up!" She was frantically looking in five different directions. Seeming to find what she was looking for, her gaze locked in one direction as she held out her arms and bent her knees. Zangthyk was about to seriously question her sanity until he saw her hands close around something. She pulled with great intensity into the (hallway?) they were standing in and fell on her back. Lying on the (ground?), her arms were wrapped around a translucent body. It was Delano, or to be more exact, his soul.

"How . . ." Zangthyk began, but the question in his mind wouldn't translate down to his mouth.

Delano lifted his head and looked directly into Bexta's near solid purple eyes. Recognition crossed his face and he slowly looked around. "Why am I here?" He looked back into Bexta's eyes and thought he saw relief fill them as the purple slowly receded, revealing more and more white.

"Why was your soul falling into the Abyss?" she shot back.

"I-I don't know. I wasn't aware it was."

Zangthyk finally got over his shock. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well . . ." The two demons listened as Delano related everything that happened after he sent Bexta back. During his story, Zangthyk helped both Delano and Bexta up off the (ground?) and all three stood at the useless entrance/exit. "But the screams those goblins made. I've never heard anything like them before. It almost sounded—" Like what? I have no frame of reference to describe them. Delano thought for a moment while the two demons looked at him expectantly. He finally decided the first thing that came to his mind was what he was going with. "They sounded like the screams of souls in pain." Bexta and Zangthyk looked at each other for a moment. To Delano, it seemed like they didn't know what he was talking about. Bexta then seemed to come to a realization, and turned to look at the young warlock's soul.

"Don't do that again. That would explain why your soul was falling into the Abyss."

"Do what again? I have no idea what I did."

Bexta looked over at Zangthyk's confused expression and shook her head. He is going to be no help in this conversation, she thought. I can't really blame him, I wasn't even aware it was possible. She looked back over to Delano's soul. "Del, you can't draw upon all your strength like a mage. A mortal has never had this kind of magic before, and for reasons I am not completely sure of right now, the magic itself will draw power from other mortals if you command it to. The souls were screaming because you were draining power from them."

"What –" Zangthyk began before Bexta hit him with her tail. He glared at her but she wasn't looking in his direction.

Delano was dumbfounded. Trying to digest what he had just been told, he didn't see the tail swipe. Drai . . . draini . . . draining a soul? He slowly looked down at his translucent hands. Wh . . . why? This has got to be a dream. I can steal souls from people? How is this even possible? And yet, looking back up at Bexta's eyes, he could see how serious she was. That actually scared him a little bit. Bexta was never somber. To her, existence was a joke, a game; a game that was for fun, regardless of whose expense it was at. "I . . . I didn't mean to. I-I had no idea." He looked over to Zangthyk and saw that his expression was somber also. "Dammit, I don't want that kind of power! No mortal should have power over souls. I have no desire to rule the world. Take it –"

"Shh," Bexta whispered as she put her hands on his cheeks. "Now that we know, we can avoid it happening again."

"Avoid? How am I supposed to avoid doing something when I don't know what I did to cause it in the first place?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? You are no longer able to draw up all your strength. When your body is used up, the magic will look for other sources; something a mage cannot do." She had to admit, even she was having a hard time believing what she was saying. This was an unprecedented problem, and she had no idea how to solve it. But, of all the spells Delano had cast since being given the demons' magic, this was the first time that this particular problem surfaced. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

Apparently, the young warlock was not making the same leaps in logic she was, because he still had an alarmed look in his translucent eyes. "Del, sweetie, look at me." He brought his eyes up to meet hers. "Trust me. The magic you're wielding came from us. If anyone understands it, it's us."

Delano looked at her for a moment. "So, what you're saying is that I'm a crippled magic user. The power I have has to be doled out in small quantities to avoid this happening again." He rolled his eyes. "Great. I'm a twelve year old novice all over again."

Bexta moved her hands from his cheeks to her hips, and cocked her head to the right. She cracked a small smile in spite of herself. She saw a little of herself in him, and that caused her to have far more patience with Delano than she would have with any other mortal. Actually, she would lump some immortals into that equation too. "Don't be silly. How many times have you seen mages use up every ounce of power they have? It's not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination."

As Delano slowly nodded in agreement, a thought occurred to her. She hadn't planned on doing it so soon, but it might help things out – that, or kill him. She slowly looked over the warlock's soul as that last sentence flashed through her mind. Did she dare jeopardize her plans? She'd been ironing out the details of the plan with Zangthyk and a few others for thousands of years and Delano was the first one who showed promise of bringing that plan to fruition. She remembered how much stronger he felt in the inn. In fact, he had grown in power faster than she anticipated. And, after hearing what happened after she was returned to the Demon Plane, she had a feeling that time was running short. She wasn't sure why, but the old man in the inn intrigued her. She wasn't quite sure who he was, it had been a very long time since she was able to roam Krynn, but something about it had a familiar feel to it.

Making up her mind to go ahead with it, she turned around to face Zangthyk. "Z, go get Atael."

Zangthyk was shocked. This is too soon, he told himself. "Now? Are you sure?"

Impatience flared in Bexta's eyes. "Yes, now. Hurry up." Zangthyk reluctantly turned and left to go find the other demon.

Despite the fact that Delano was just saved from joining the ranks of the Abyss, and despite the fact that he just learned he could harm the souls of mortals, he found himself staring at Bexta's ass after she turned around. In his opinion, she had the nicest one he had ever seen. He even liked the tail; the way it moved when she walked and the way it whipped around like a cat's tail when she was thinking or annoyed. His favorite part about the tail, though, was that it added something else to hold on to during sex. Plus, being as long as it was, she was able to use it like a whip, something he had never experienced before and a sensation he found he liked, a lot.

Bexta watched Zangthyk leave. She knew he was going to have some choice things to say after they sent Delano back. Doesn't matter, she told herself. This needs to happen now. She turned around and noticed where Delano's eyes were aimed. She almost laughed. She cocked her head to the right and thrust out her right hip, an act that caused him to slowly bring his eyes up to meet hers. They shared a smile.

"You dirty, dirty boy," she teased. "I've killed mortals for less."

"You know you like it."

She tried to be serious, but couldn't and giggled. "I do. Now is not the time though." Just then Zangthyk and Atael came around the (corner?). Bexta turned her head to look at them. She nodded at Atael and he nodded back. Turning back to Delano, she said, "Del, you remember Atael, don't you?"

The warlock looked over the third demon, which was considerably larger than the other two. Zangthyk was a kender-sized demon with the body of a red gargoyle; Bexta was the size of an average human with perfect features, a tail, horns and hooves. Atael, on the other hand, was the size of an adult male grizzly bear with the body of a miniature dragon, save for the fact that there were horns all over, three tails, and he was mud colored.

"I do," he replied.

Atael turned to Bexta. "He ready for this?"

"Of course."

"Ready for what?" asked Delano.

Atael walked over to the warlock and looked him over. "Hmm. You're power is growing faster than expected human." He backed up a few steps and looked over to Bexta. "Fine. Begin."

Seeing Delano's confusion, Bexta walked up to him and placed her hands on his cheeks. "We're going to give you more power. That way you won't feel like such a," she rolled her eyes, "novice."

"That's not what I meant—" Delano began before she placed a finger on his lips.

"I know silly," she said as she giggled. "Just messing with you. The more power you have, the less likely that problem will surface again. Besides, I think it's time we did it anyway. We'll send you back as soon as we're done with this." Noticing he was about to ask a question, she stopped him. "No. No more questions for now. We need to hurry up and get you back."

She bent her head forward and kissed him like she did back during his Test. The sensation was completely surreal to Delano, since his body was back on Krynn, yet he could still physically feel her kiss him and the magic flow into him. Atael's blue glow added to Bexta's purple and Delano felt the buzzing again. And again he reveled in it. As the buzzing and glow subsided, Bexta pulled her head back and looked in his eyes. "I will never tire of that."

"Nor will I," Delano said.

She broke their embrace and led his soul down the (hallway?) towards the locked entrance/exit. She turned to look at Atael. "Little help?" she asked as she smiled at him.

Atael nodded and walked up to the young warlock as Bexta moved out of the way. To Delano's surprise, the dragon demon stood on his hind legs and grabbed Delano's forearms with his front legs. He then spun around and tossed the warlock's soul towards Krynn like a sack of potatoes.

Zangthyk was glaring at Bexta. "You might have just killed him, you know."

"Nonsense. He'll be fine," she replied.

"His body will rebel once his soul returns. If he doesn't die, he's going to be in a lot of pain," he retorted.

"I think he'll be fine," Atael interjected. "As long as he doesn't die, I don't care how much temporary pain he has to endure. He's not strong enough yet for this plan to work, and I'm ready to go home."

"I still think this was too soon," Zangthyk said as he sighed.

"Always the pessimist, aren't you?" Atael turned to walk back to where he was when Zangthyk came calling.

"Relax Z," Bexta said as she came over to lead Zangthyk deeper into the Demon Plane. "He'll be fine." She sincerely hoped so. Their entire plan hinged on Delano not dying when he woke up. More so than that, deep down she knew she would miss him.


End file.
